Senator Square: CHS junior Chandler Blueberg advances as 'American Idol' contestant

Carson High School has been back for three weeks and I think we are finally getting settled into new schedules, rekindling friendships, and getting acquainted with new teachers and students. However, our school year started with much sadness as our high school community lost one of our students in a tragic accident at Lake Tahoe.

The next week of school saw the loss of a fairly recent 2013 graduate of Carson High School also. Both students, Cameron and Jordan, were taken too soon from us and their families. It is a reminder of how precious life is. Our hearts and thoughts are with the St. Hilaire and Woodward families. Both young men were bright shining stars at CHS and they will be missed.

CHS Has American Idol Winner
Chandler Blueberg of Carson City is a junior at CHS and has recently won the local American Idol competition in Reno which now advances her to the next round of the popular television show, American Idol. When gathering information about her win, I asked Chandler to share her experience with me.

Rather than edit the story, I decided to print it as she wrote it to me. Her words and description of her experience are extraordinary. In Chandler’s words, here is her story of participating and winning the local Idol competition.

“It (audition) was very 'American Idol' with news cameras everywhere and interviews and graceful yet helpful judging. It was very much a show. The judges really talked about how they want charisma and just someone who can perform yet be personable at the same time with a voice of course. I just so happened to fit that definition from their point of view.

"The judges asked us a few questions and asked us to tell them about ourselves. I, of course told them about how I come from a family of sports, having my dad Jim play professional baseball and now is a scout for major league teams, my brother Colby who played baseball at UNR and now is playing for the Padres and my other brother Chase who plays football in college along with all the other sports they both played in high school.

"I play sports myself but my heart has always been in my music. I've been in plays since I was little, and have been the youngest in my worship band at Church since I was 13. After telling them my whole story we went through everyone and they called up the top five. Myself, and four other very talented amazing women, sang our hearts out with a different song of our choice.

"Personally I felt the best way to go was to call upon The Lord in this for Him to guide me through this, so I sang 'Oh Lord I want you to help me,' a pretty plain and simple to understand what I was praying in my head at that time. I had some great competition; a few of the women had already been on Idol, the Voice, and in bands. So I was surprised to be the name they called as their winner to represent Northern Nevada in the official Idol auditions. I go to San Francisco Sept. 15 for live auditions where since I won this, do not have to wait in any of the lines but go straight to the producers. I'm very grateful for this opportunity and for the best judges Nick Furlong, Kristine Brown, and Bill Schulz that came down to choose me as their idol.”

Senior Makeup Photos
If you haven't had your senior photo taken for the 2016 Carneta, now is your chance. StudioMonet will be at the Marriott Hotel on South Carson Street in Carson City Sept. 15-16. Make an appointment for your photo by calling 844-454-3888 or going to Studiomonet.com. Don't be left out of your senior yearbook.

New Club at CHS
There is a new club starting at CHS this year with an amazing mission! Did you know there are currently about 1.3 million active service people serving in the United States Military?  This new club is called RED — Remember Everyone Deployed. The goal of RED is to support active duty armed forces personnel and their families by sending letters and packages to military members, hosting events, and fundraising as well as making sure our service people know they are in our hearts and minds. 

All grades are welcome to join and support RED to show their support for the men and women who put their lives in danger and leave their families behind for all American’s freedom. For more information and community support, please follow @US1RED on Twitter and Instagram, like “U.S. RED” on Facebook, and/or text @73331 to 81010. The first RED meeting is Wednesday, September 9 during lunch in room 246 (Ms. Cadwell).

Student of the Week
This week’s student of the week is Jaycie Roberts. Jaycie is a junior who maintains a 3.5 GPA. This is her second year as the captain of the volleyball team. Jaycie is kind and considerate to everyone she comes in contact with, and works hard at everything she does. Thanks Jaycie for all you do at Carson High.

Senior Spotlight
This week’s senior in the spotlight is Max DeMar.  He has a weighted GPA of 4.578, and is currently enrolled in many AP and Honors classes, including Culinary III.

Max has been extremely active in the Carson High School community through his participation in Link Crew for the last two years, and his current position of Director of Link Crew. He started the Mountain Biking club last year, and is a member of National Honors Society and Key Club. This past summer he participated in Nevada Boys’ State. He also finds time to work part time as an assistant chef at Homage Bakery.

Max was featured in the Nevada Appeal last week for his performance on the field for Varsity Football, as well as his outstanding achievements in Culinary Arts. He’s been a member of CHS’s ProStart and Skills USA teams, and most recently, along with his team, won First Place State Culinary at the Nevada ProStart Student Invitational in Las Vegas, Nevada. They went on to compete in Nationals in Anaheim, Calif. 

Two summers ago Max attended the National Student Leadership Conference on Intelligence and National Security at the American University in order to further his career interests. He plans to study international affairs and minor in the Turkish language and would like to attend the University of Washington, University of Texas, or University of Pennsylvania. Carson High School would not be the same without Max’s contributions. We thank him for that, and wish him well in his future endeavors.

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