Senator Square: Carson High students return with plenty of sports, clubs and activities

Welcome back to another week of Senator Square, all news about students, staff and events at Carson High School. If you have information you’d like the community to know about in relation to CHS, please contact me agolik@carson.k12.nv.us.

Speech and Debate
Carson High School Speech and Debate has begun its new year with energy and optimism. This year’s officers include: Luke Szatmary, Jacob Bertocchi, Sawyer Barnet, Shaylin Segura, Emily Spence, and Valerie Meister. CHS debate would also like to extend a warm welcome to Megan Motley, former national debate competitor, new English teacher and now assistant coach to the team. Debate has also begun to expand into the Middle School. We would like to thank Bonnie Preston at Eagle Valley Middle School in Carson City for taking on a speech and debate class at her school. The team’s first competition will be held at Damonte Ranch High School Sept. 19 and 20. 

Sports Signups
Parent portal will be open until August 29. Now is the time to begin or complete the athletic packet for the year. This includes winter sports - ski, wrestling, boys and girls basketball; spring sports - baseball, softball, track and boys and girls swim. The athletic department will announce when to turn those packets in for the season. For more information please contact the athletic office at 283-1900.

HOSA News
Carson High School has its first HOSA (Future Health Professionals) State Officer this year, Bryen Holloway. As a State Officer it is his responsibility to help lead, inspire, and enable the Nevada HOSA students to act and participate with their school chapters. Having a State Officer for Carson High benefits the Carson High School chapter because it gives the school direct contact with one of the state’s student representatives for HOSA. This will help keep the school informed with upcoming fundraisers for the state and national fundraiser to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Congratulations Bryen; way to represent our growing HOSA chapter here at Carson High School!

CHS Teachers Climb Mt. Whitney
*The following was written by Curtis Kortemeier
Scott and Curtis' Big Adventure (the trail to Mt. Whitney)

It was right after school in mid-March of this year when Scott Vickrey burst into my room and proclaimed: “K! I won the lottery!”
“Great,” I replied. “Buy me lunch!”
“No, not that lottery. I got a wilderness permit to climb Mt. Whitney. Are you in?”
“Oh sure, why not?” Little did I know what I was in for.
And so it began, two middle-aged men's quest to summit the highest peak in the lower 48 states.
To be fair, it is not a technical climb, it is a walk up on a generally good trail that is very popular.

Training hikes began in May as school was winding down and included Davis Creek, Mt Rose, Freel Peak, Elephant Back as well as hours on the local “Stairmaster.”

Of course training was tempered with trips to the coast for extra carb-loading and general lazing about. For the hike itself we chose the two day option.

Day 1 consisted of about 3600 feet vertical elevation gain over about 6 miles from Whitney Portal (8360' elev.) to Trail Camp (12,000' elev.) with full packs that somehow had ballooned to around 40 lbs.
Day 2 was the biggie. Wake at 4 am. Around 38º F. Boil water, eat. Lose everything due to darkness, sleepiness, and high altitude fuzzies, not to mention adrenalin fueled excitement. Leave Trail Camp (12,000' elev) to Mt Whitney Summit (14,505') 2500' vertical over 5 miles. On top by 10:30 am and perfect weather. That means wind not howling and no lightning. Then descend 14,500' to 8,360' over 11 miles.

The trip, thanks mostly to Scott, came off without a hitch. The views from all parts of the trip were incredible. Our measly photos just do not do justice to mother-nature.

Will climbing Mt. Whitney change you forever? Absolutely. You'll come back tanner, leaner, more appreciative of oxygen, indoor plumbing (instead of USFS issued WAG bags) and a mattress. You'll learn a whole new vocabulary (much of it French): couloir, arete, cirque, moraine. Or geological: “Wow Scott do you see that compositionally-zoned alkali-feldspar megacryst right there in the granodiorite!”Or biological: “Curtis, did you see how dark green that alpine gentian is? Since it is protecting itself from the wind by growing deep inside that crack, it must be compensating by producing more chlorophyll to make up for the limited solar influx.”

If you set your sights high, start training early, make a bunch of beginner's mistakes (too much water weight, too many clothes, too much food) but keep putting one foot in front of the other you will be amazed at what you (and your students) will accomplish.

Thank you again Scott for suggesting something I never would have gotten around to doing without you.

FBLA First Meeting
The Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) will be having its first meeting on September 9 at lunch in Mrs. Golik’s classroom (#243). All students are invited to attend. If you have an interest in business, entrepreneurship, stock market, etc. then please consider joining this club. This year’s club is led by Junior CHS student Daniel Jauregui as the chapter’s President and Senior Margaret Duval as the Vice President.

— Writer Angila Golik is a government teacher at CHS and also a member of Senator Pride.