Senator Square: CHS says goodbye to yearbook adviser, astronomy students acknowledged in science journal

Patt Quinn-Davis, Carson High School Language Arts teacher and adviser of the school newspaper and Carneta yearbook, is retiring. For Quinn-Davis, the publications staff became a part of her family every year and even more so when students stayed with the program throughout their high school careers.

Before becoming a teacher, Quinn-Davis worked as a journalist in Woodland Hills, Calif., where she worked as an editor for the Daily Democrat. Later, she moved to Carson City where she eventually became City Editor for the Nevada Appeal. Afterwards, she left her position and did some freelance work for Nevada Magazine and the Reno Gazette-Journal. While working as a journalist, Quinn-Davis saw an opportunity to impact the community to a larger degree, so she decided to run for Mayor.

Though unsuccessful at her bid for Mayor, she then followed her heart’s desire to impact youth, acquired her secondary education teaching license, and began work at CHS. For twenty years, Quinn Davis taught several levels of English at Carson High and published the yearbook and newspaper, winning multiple awards for her publications. Though she has had thousands of students over the years, her 2020 Carneta staff gets to have the last word:

According to Executive Editor of the yearbook, senior Lindsay Chowanski, “There is no way possible for thanking QD for all she has done for me during my high school career, but thank you for pushing me and making me better at writing, design, photography, and a better leader; even though we fight over silly stuff, I am going to miss you so much, and thank you for making yearbook my favorite class.”

According to Julia Nolan, “Mrs. Quinn-Davis is one of the nicest teachers I know, always talking to everyone about everything; she has a way with people in which I will never understand, and she loves to teach, so it is sad to see her go because I know she spent hours on our book saying, ‘It is your book’, never taking any credit for all the work she puts in, and I have learned so much from her because she has always believed in me even when I thought no one did.”

According to Allison Gill, “I am so incredibly grateful I got to have QD as my teacher for at least one year; she was always there for me no matter what and made me feel like I was still worth having on her team. I will miss her so much next year, but I will continue to work as hard as I can to make the best book I can for her.”

According to Aspen Carrillo, “Thank you! I could not imagine what high school would be like without yearbook; yearbook helped me in many ways, and I do not think there are many teachers staying after school for over three hours just to let her yearbook staff work. The yearbook room was like a second home, and sometimes the yearbook was the only thing I had motivating me. It is amazing to have a teacher who spots what you are good at and encourages your talent. I am going to miss QD a great deal, so thank you so much for everything.”

Working with Quinn Davis has been an immense pleasure for all at CHS. Her presence will be missed at school every day, and the great work she did here ensures she will never be forgotten. Her graciousness about the people with whom she works, her delight in and acknowledgment of their successes, and her ability to make them the heroes is impressive. What she achieved at CHS made a visible impact, and that is not so easy to do these days. We honor Patt Quinn Davis for being a tireless professional, a helpful coworker, and a good friend.

Now go and relax, Patt Quinn Davis, but anyone who knows you can be certain this will only happen when you are enjoying your grandchildren, traveling the world, and progressing through your journey of yoga and meditation.

REMOTE LEARNING LIBRARY STYLE
Your Carson High School @SenatorsLibrary has become a Cyber-Library. Transitioning to remote learning has been an interesting endeavor for us all, one which brings many lessons, and will, I am sure, create a paradigm shift in the way we school library in the future. So much of our physical space is intertwined with the social emotional needs of staff and students. It is a place of respite and calm, a place to relax, socialize, take a time-out, create, learn, or even nap. It is also a hive of activity with classes rotating through to check out materials, engage in lessons, or see presentations.

The @SenatorsLibrary is a place to gather, and it is the daily personal connections we are missing most from our students who bring energy and focus to our days. Right now, providing the same supports and so much more, we work from home in new and creative ways. It is an amazing transition, and I am impressed with the work I am seeing District-wide from the CCSD Library Staff.

Check out these examples of Remote Learning — Library Style — happening across the District, information and media literacy instruction via remote learning. Want a sneak peek? Check out the lesson here: bit.ly/CHSMediaBias; Carson City Students Read Here, There, and Everywhere; celebrating our elementary school readers and their creative reading styles: bit.ly/CCSDReaders; Books We Love: Collaboration with the GATE teachers to highlight reading recommendations to our Carson families: bit.ly/CarsonBooksWeLove; Collaborating with the Carson City and Nevada State Libraries to provide digital resources to students: silverstarcoop.overdrive.com/nevadalib-carson; updating our library websites to provide literacy and digital information to students:carsoncityschools.com, Quick Links, Library; Supporting classroom teachers, staff, and students by joining digital classroom discussions and read alouds, curating digital resources for teachers, collecting literacy resources for reading, research, and remote learning, tech support, Chromebook support, processing books, annual reporting, sharing community resources, educational technology coaching and staff support, managing student hotspots for home internet, assisting with nutrition and social programs. Until we are able to connect with students in person, the CHS Cyber-Library is staying as busy as ever, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to continue to support our community virtually. We hope everyone is safe, healthy, and able to tune out, turn off, and get lost in a great book. Ananda Campbell may be reached by email acampbell@carson.k12.nv.us. — Contributed by Library Media Specialist, Ananda Campbell.

JOURNAL OF PLANETARY SCIENCE TO ACKNOWLEDGE CHS STUDENTS
CHS teacher James Bean’s students after participating with “RECON…a citizen science research project aimed at exploring the outer solar system,” and using a National Science Foundation grant, a Division of Astronomical Sciences, which allows high school students the opportunity to track Kuiper Belt Objects, Pluto, and Transneptunian objects, are going to be acknowledged in an upcoming publication of the Journal of Planetary Science for tracking two Transneptunian objects at the Jack C. Davis Observatory at the Western Nevada College campus.

CHS students, Ian Pettersen, Levi Hemingway, Leo Rodriguez, Levi Woods, Jada Blackeye, Mike Ramirez, and Max Fontaineare, collected data in order to feed it to planetary scientists who form solar system models. Bean’s students are from his physics and astronomy classes and also include Chandler Tiearney, Michelle Ramirez, Adela Pachacho, Damian Branco, Eli Thomas and Bernice H. Ramirez. Mr. Bean spends a multitude of his personal time outside of the classroom prepping for his classes and working alongside his students because of his interest in science and his love of teaching. Getting a hold of Mr. Bean is easy. Call 283-1714, or email him at jbean@carson.k12.nv.us.

ORDER A 2020 CARNETA YEARBOOK ONLINE
The 2020 Carneta is here, so please do not miss out on this unforgettable record of the most unforgettable senior year in history. CHS adviser Patt Quinn-Davis and CHS Administrators are working out details on the best way to get yearbooks delivered to students, but ordering one online is simple. Quinn-Davis, and co-adviser Alyssa Smith-Ackerley, made a very quick how-to video for ordering. Please go to the video here. Want to skip the video, no problem. Go straight to yearbookforever.com/.

SAFE GRAD SPONSORING DOWNTOWN STREET BANNER EVENT
Safe Grad is sponsoring the Downtown Street Banner event, and seniors should submit their photos. There is information on the Carson High website on where to send CHS Class of 2020 headshots in high resolution. Information may also be found on the CHS Class of 2020 Parents on Facebook page. Look for a photo of the CHS emblem at school. There are two groups: One for anyone, and one for CHS Class of 2020 Senior Parents. A post from the group on Facebook says, “Permission to install banners up and down Carson Street and Fairview has been granted.” There will be four pictures of the CHS Class of 2020 Seniors on each banner, two per side, and the cost is $28 each. Carson High Safe Grad has agreed to sponsor the project, but donations are needed and may be sent to Carson High Safe Grad Booster, PO Box 486, Carson City, NV 89702. To make a tax deductable donation online, go to carsonhighsafegrad@gmail.com, click the ‘Donate’ tab, and please reference “Downtown Banners” on your donation.” Approximately $13,000 needs to be raised in order to offer it to all graduating seniors. Please contact CHS Safe Grad Secretary Wendy Yang at 720-6160, or President Kyra Hinton at 434-760-0635. Safe Grad will have its final meeting next week to discuss Safe Grad night.

FORMER TEACHER’S PANDEMIC MASKS HOT COMMODITY
Cathy Barbie, former Carson City School District Eagle Valley Middle School teacher, and head of the Carson City Craft Fair, began making Covid-19 face masks when her son Josh called and told her his veterinary hospital could not get any masks until June or July. Barbie, a skilled crafter, went to work immediately. Barbie said, “OMG I could not believe the numbers for how many masks I have made so far; I started March 11, with the first shipment to my son Ryan, and I then began selling them at Grocery Outlet on April 11, and, to date, I have made over 900 masks.” Barbie has donated many of her hand-crafted masks, but she sells them as well and said, “Thanks to the generosity of my customers, we are paying off one of the three medical bills we have for my husband's hand injury.” Barbie is currently sewing masks for 8 to 15 hours per day. She has made masks for Carson City School District nurses, the Highway Patrol, and “The order I completed this week was for 100 masks for the Western Nevada College Child Care Center workers.” Barbie added, “Thanks to your first article, I had over 350 mask orders, which I am selling every Wednesday and Saturday at Grocery Outlet from 10:00 a.m. to Noon in front of the main entrance.” Barbie’s plan is to continue to sell the masks through the month of June at Grocery Outlet. Those interested may come directly to Grocery Outlet to purchase a mask, order a particular pattern by calling 775-882-8109, or email her directly at barbiecathy55@gmail.com. “I am working on a special issue mask with the Nevada Battle Born theme” Barbie added, “I put a metal strip in each so the customers can shape it around their noses, and I can also take orders and special requests for fabrics such as doctor, nurse, first responder, military, animal, sports, fishing, etc.”

STUDENT OF THE WEEK
Zueskyra Herrera, a sophomore, is the CHS Student of the Week. Gabriela McNamara, Zueskyra’s nominating teacher, said about her, “She works hard, is dedicated, and is a portrait of good behavior.” Employees within Carson City School District nominate CHS students for Student of the Week, and it is often the students’ teachers who do the nominating though anyone in the district may do so by sending an email to Senator Square columnist Phil Brady at pbrady@carson.k12.nv.us.

— Senator Square columnist Phil Brady is an English teacher at Carson High School in Carson City, Nev.