Senator Square: Carson High School student initiates independent Senior Project

CHS Senior Abby Golik, after being told Senior Projects, a Carson High School graduation requirement, were temporarily cancelled, decided she wanted to do a Senior Project anyway.

She first emailed all of her former mentors saying, “I just wanted to say thank you for being a teacher, coach, mentor, or principal of mine over the years, or someone who has supported me; I know it may seem a little strange to hear this, but I missed out on doing a Senior Project and talked with my sister Hannah about how I might still be able to give back to my community my senior year."

Abby and her sister Hannah brainstormed, talked with some community members like Jim Peckham, Executive Director of Friends in Service Helping, FISH, and Joyce Buckingham of Ron Woods Center and decided to do a community drive. Peckham said “Between 250-300 homeless persons in our community could use socks and gloves this time of year with annual temperatures reaching their lowest of lows” and Buckingham said “Diapers are always in demand for children and families in our community who are in the foster care program, specifically sizes 4 to 6.”

So Abby decided these two organizations will receive the donations. With this information, Abby said, “I put together this drive to rally the community for donations, and I am reaching out to all of my former teachers, coaches, etc. to see if they would be interested in making a donation.”

Abby placed a donation box in the CHS Attendance Office, and it will be there until Jan. 8. Items may be dropped off between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Prefer to give a cash donation? Abby will then use the money to purchase socks, gloves, and diapers herself.

Make checks out to Abby Golik, put them in her mom's mailbox, Angila Golik, or Venmo her @Abby-Golik. Abby then said, “I will send an update email at the conclusion of this event to share with you how many items were donated; thank you so much for all the years of guidance, support, and teaching you have provided me at CHS. For more information about this event, please email her at abbygolik11@gmail.com.

GRAPHIC DESIGN CLASSES CREATE COVER ART FOR TEACHER’S NOVEL
Patricia Ababio’s Graphic Design classes at CHS are partnering with a local author, Carson City School District teacher Kinkade DeJoseph and Three Ravens Publishing to create cover art for DeJoseph’s first published novel. The book is an epic fantasy and will be the first in a series.

DeJoseph, a teacher at Bordewich-Bray Elementary School, initially approached Ababio with this work-based learning experience for the students and said, “I wanted to create a real-life chance for students to put their schooling to work that could be rewarded with an experience in the professional world; Three Ravens CEO, Scott Tackett, also leapt at the idea." After agreeing to create roughs for DeJoseph, his book was picked up by Three Raven’s Publishing.

In an effort to help the students network and gain real-world experience, Tackett also agreed to conference with students and offered them the opportunity to potentially see their cover art published on DeJoseph’s book. The book will be offered in hardback, paperback, eBook, and audio formats, so the artwork will be widely used should a student be successful. Tackett also said, “This is a great chance for students to learn about a new area where their skills can be utilized both now and in future as we are always looking for good cover artists.”

CARSON CITY BUSINESS OWNERS MAY ADVERTISE IN THE CHS YEARBOOK
Carson City business owners may purchase an advertisement section in the yearbook, multiple sizes available, to help support the CHS program. It is super easy; business owners simply need to go to yearbookforever.com, search for Carson High School, select shop, and select business ad. They may then upload a predesigned ad, or they may design their own ad online. They may purchase a full page, ½-page, or ¼-page section. Please, businesses of Carson City, work this type of advertising into to support the physical publication of the CHS Senators’ yearbook.

PHOTO FINISHED CHS SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW EXHIBIT AT THE BRICK
This show will be at "The Brick", 108 E. Proctor Street now through March 25, 2021. The show exhibits photography from level three and advanced studies students and is accessible online at ccainv.org; some of the pieces are a part of a cohesive, conceptual body of work, some are pieces of their choosing, and most are for sale. The photographers are: Geovanny Arroyo, Trevor Castillo, Mariah Dunham, Maizie Harris, Riley Kidd, Kedre Luschar, Dom Martinez, Anthony Meyer, Madalyn Nolan, Justyce Quintana, Madison Rabideau, Josey Steinecke, and Katie Zarate. For more information, please email CHS Photography Instructor Kara Ferrin at kferrin@carson.k12.nv.us.

CARSON CITY LIBRARY ANNOUNCES WINTER READING CHALLENGE
Check out a great read, or three, from @senatorslibrary this week. Place a book on hold for #bookdash classroom delivery carsoncitylibrary.org/winterreadingchallenge. All students are invited to participate in Beanstack’s Fourth Annual Winter Reading Challenge, sponsored by Simon and Schuster.

This year's theme is "Books Like Us", a celebration of diversity, harnessing the transformative power of seeing oneself reflected in a book. Hundreds of other schools are joining, and libraries across the United States are participants in this exciting event. The challenge is to read for 15 hours beginning Dec. 19, 2020 through Jan. 10, 2021 and to track personal time in Beanstack. Share individual progress on social media using #winterread2021. To participate, register online at carsoncitylibrary.beanstack.org; this will also be the location to log all reading, or listening, for students and their families.

For assistance, email creativelearning@carsoncitylibrary.org or call 775-283-7590. One grand prize will be awarded per age group. The winner for each age group will be determined by an online grand prize drawing at the end of the program. The more hours read, the more tickets an individual will earn. Be sure personal beanstack accounts have an up-to-date phone number so that winners may be easily notified.

Age groups consist of 0-5, 6-11, 12-17, and 18 plus. Register and access personal beanstack accounts by using this link: carsoncitylibrary.beanstack.org/users/sign_in.

Please note: Participants must have a Carson City Library card to play. After registering for the Winter Reading Challenge through Beanstack, please email creativelearning@carsoncitylibrary.org, or call 283-7590 to schedule to pick-up a personal registration prize. After reading and logging 15 hours the personal Beanstack account, email creativelearning@carsoncitylibrary.org, or call 283-7590 to schedule to pick-up a completion prize.

Completion prizes will not be available for pick-up until Jan. 11. Each participant will earn 5 online tickets after reading 15 hours. For each additional hour read, after 15 hours logged, an additional online ticket will be earned. To qualify for the online grand prize drawing, participants must read and log at least 15 hours.

All minutes read must be logged online by Jan. 10, 2021 at 8:59 p.m. Staff will ensure all tickets are added to the drawing before pulling winners for the online grand prize drawing. Winners will be contacted the week of Jan. 10, 2021 and will have up to two weeks to claim their prize. If a prize is not claimed within the two-week deadline, the next runner-up will be notified. Happy reading, Carson City.

NOW HIRING STUDENT CUSTODIAL WORKERS AT CHS
Good money, normal hours, and a truly safe and familiar place to work, the Carson City School District, and CHS in particular, needs students to become stewards of the facility. Wages begin at $10 per hour, along with 15 or more hours per week, Monday through Friday. Students must be 16 or older, and they get to choose which school site within the district they would prefer to work.

This could be the beginning of a new career. Three letters of recommendation from teachers, administrators, former employers, etc. are needed, and students must be passing all their classes and have good attendance. If absent from school, then students would be unable to work that day. Those hired will work with a Lead Custodian to clean, mop, scrub, and vacuum floors, dust furniture and equipment, and clean windows, along with other custodial duties. To apply, please go to drive.google.com/file/d/16dS971zNlfBwQRG5R3SZW3i9aRoHMyml/view

STUDENT OF THE WEEK
Congratulations to Kenneth Villagrana, a junior, on being nominated as the CHS Student of the Week. His nominating teacher, CHS Language Arts Department’s Alyssa Smith-Akerley, said “He has the biggest smile and seeing him brightens your day, and Kenny stops by my classroom about once a week just to say hi and to ask me how my baby is doing and see pictures; he is super rad.”

Congratulations to Kenneth Villagrana on being nominated Student of the Week; he is a junior who stands out. Employees within Carson City School District nominate the CHS 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 pbrady@carson.k12.nv.us.

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