Senator Square: Carson High announces sci fi, fantasy and horror writing competition winners

Participating in competitive endeavors and events, those with a buildup of excitement and anticipation, is exciting enough in a classroom environment. Pump up the excitement with worthwhile gift cards from The Human Bean and a first place, second place, and third place certificate, and the competition is a go.

Known as English IV incognito, this event happens three times every school year in the CHS Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror classes, through an interclass writing contest. During each quarter, students study various genres and the structure of all fictional literature using what is called the Freytag Pyramid Model.

After coming up with a pen name, students write their short stories paying particular attention to structure and readability. Creating a pen name is almost as important as the short story itself as this alleviates bias. Students from other classes do not know the real names of the students whose papers they are reading. For instance, and not surprisingly, one popular pen name is Justin Time.

Even the teacher is not allowed to participate in the judging of the papers. For judging, students form five groups of five and are given the stories from another class. A3 is given the stories from B2, B2 is given the stories from B4, and B4 is given the stories from B2. This is where phase one of the competition begins. Each group then reads and chooses the best story of their initial five.

In the following class, phase two begins with each group receiving a copy of the final top five stories. They read and choose the best story yet again to narrow it down to first, second, and third place winners. For the Fantasy short story competition, first, second, and third place in the A3 block went to CHS Seniors Ari Erickson, Clinton DeWitt, and Danny McKee. In the B2 block, winners were Kevin Jacinto, Brooklyn Robertson, and Chandler Beveridge, and in the B4 block, winners Laura Vazquez and AJ Bezama are pictured with Ty Perkins not present. For love of the game, congratulations to all those who love competition and fair play.

BLUE THUNDER MARCHING BAND RECEIVES BOOST FROM GNCU
Carson High School’s Blue Thunder Marching Band received a big boost when Greater Nevada Credit Union presented them with a $1,000 check and new band t-shirts this year. Support from the GNCU CHS Branch helps the marching band purchase new instruments, uniforms and travel to competitions. GNCU has proudly sponsored the CHS Marching Band since 2015. Pictured left to right: Raynell Heaton, Band Booster Treasurer; Julie Slocum, GNCU Education Branch Coordinator; Nick Jacques, Band Director. For more information, please call or email GNCU Education Branch Coordinator Julie Slocum and 775-886-1440 or jslocum@gncu.net.

SCHOOL NURSES DAY AND MONTH CELEBRATED AT CHS
May is National Nurses Month, and May 11 is School Nurses Day at CHS. Teachers, students, and CHS Principal Bob Chambers reached out, with lunch, to school nurses to say thank you. “It is always a comfort and pleasure knowing down the hall and around the corner are Sheila Story, Wendy Bacon, Julie Spence, and Sahara Reid, ready to rush to the rescue to help a student, teacher, or administrator in need.”

In January 1974, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) proclaimed May 12 would be International Nurse Day as May 12 is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, and since 1965, the ICN has celebrated "International Nurse Day."

This month, and always, “We are proud of your work and proud to support you as you care for patients and demonstrate to the world the power of nurses; you have worked diligently supporting our students, faculty, staff, families, and community through difficult times. The school nurses have helped keep our schools safe and our students healthy. They continually focus on the well-being and academic success of each student. Thank you for your support and have a great day.”

BOOKMARKS ARE FOR QUITTERS
The Carson City Library is hosting The Midnight Reader’s Society: Bookmarks are for Quitters book club for teens. Bring a book from a favorite genre May 12 from 3 to 4 p.m. for high schoolers.

FREE MONEY FOUND IN SENATOR SCHOLARSHIP SCOOP
Three weeks remain in the 2021-2022 school year, so wisdom suggests seniors check out the latest Senator Scholarship Scoop at carsonhigh.com. Visitors simply click Academics, Counseling Department, and The Scoop. As CHS and Pioneer High School seniors consider life after graduation, they may choose to look for some free money in the form of scholarships.

The beauty of this, too, is scholarships may be applied for year-round and awarded to college students throughout their entire four years. Many scholarships offered end up being awarded to no one because no one applied. There are thousands of national scholarships found at fastweb.com, and scholarships.com. The CHS Guidance Office is also always available to help students choose and apply for scholarships.

SAFE GRAD AND SIX FLAGS
Good afternoon Carson High parents and family. Carson High Safe Grad has been a tradition for Carson High since 1988. It was started by community volunteers after a series of graduation incidents and deaths related to alcohol. The main goal is to prevent the use of alcohol, drugs, and the consequences, including driving drunk, for graduates or others who might be hurt.

The new graduates may also see how much fun they can have when they take responsibility and celebrate without alcohol and drugs. This event is a congratulations to the graduates and a showing of how much the community cares about them completing their education. This, in most cases, is the last chance for some graduates to get together and celebrate their accomplishments.

SG is a parent and community sponsored all-night party which begins the evening after graduation at the Carson City Community Center. According to SG President Kyra Hinton, there is “A bit of good news as we (still) have about 60 seats left and will be able to add any more students; the deadline is May 20 for the Six Flags Trip.”

Hinton added, “For students wanting to attend just the party, which is free, applications must be submitted by May 20, so SG can figure out the food, and students may still turn in forms at the senior assembly and at the door should they decide to come.” Additional forms may be found at the CHS Student Finance office, or they may be printed from carsonhighsafegrad.com. Once inside the Community Center, graduates will experience a variety of fun and safe activities including food, music, entertainment, games and other activities during the all-night party.

After breakfast, graduates, those who have paid the trip fee, will load onto buses and head to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA for an exciting day at the park. Volunteers are needed to run SG night as well as coordinators and board members to keep the program going next year. Please reach out if interested in taking over these positions to keep this tradition going.

Finally, 134 volunteers are still needed and may sign up for SG Night by going to signup.com/go/OrcXtFM to choose dates, times, and needed jobs. Additionally, multiple Open Board Positions are available to those who would like to serve the Class of 2023: President, Vice President, Photograph Coordinator, Registration Coordinator, Social Media Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, Event SG Night Coordinator, and Decor SG Night Coordinator. — Contributed by Safe Grad President Kyra Hinton.

YEARBOOK
According to Yearbook and Digital Media Adviser Cynthia Mills, “We have only 155 yearbooks left, so be sure to purchase your yearbook soon before we sell out.” Go to yearbookforever.com or stop by the CHS Student Finance office to purchase a yearbook.

The yearbook has been submitted for publication, and it celebrates the themes of “Together Again” and “The 150th year of Carson High School.” In addition, the yearbook staff added 40 pages to the book for the same price. Like last year, it will sell out, so do not miss out on this unique opportunity. For more information, please email Yearbook and Digital Media Adviser Cynthia Mills at cmills@carson.k12.nv.us.

STUDENT CREATED CORNHOLE GAMES FOR SALE AT CHS
Intro to Engineering, Principles of Engineering, and Project Lead the Way CHS teacher Collin Belnap said, “My first-year engineering classes are building cornhole board games which I sell for the cost of materials and then use the proceeds to buy materials for next year's classes.”

Belnap then said, “If you are interested, you can come to room 164 and look over what students have created so far; remember, most of these kids have never used power tools, saws, tape measures etc. before, so some of the boards are a little rough, but they may be painted, or you can also buy them unpainted.” Belnap has approximately 20 to sell, and the cost is $50. Stop by his room at CHS, or email him at cbelna@carson.k12.nv.us.

PARENTS SPORTS AND PHYSICALS NIGHT
Parents, there will be a high school athletes’ sport’s night meeting for the 22-23 school year May 23 at 5:30 p.m. in the CHS Big Gym. Parents and athletes will have the opportunity to hear from the new CHS Athletic Director as well as meet CHS coaches.

Fall sports coaches for football, volleyball, soccer, girls golf, cross country, and tennis will be holding brief meetings after. CHS will also be holding a sports’ physicals night June 15 at 5:30 p.m. in the CHS big gym. Sports’ physicals will be available for only $10. Have a current eighth grade athlete, and choose to get his physical at his regular doctor? Please make sure to wait until after June 3 to have the physical done. If the physical is done before June 3, it will be invalid to use at the high school level.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
CHS Athletic Department’s Athletes of the Week are Lukas Taggart, Regional Champion Varsity Boys Golf, and Tristian Hawkins for Varsity Boys Golf. These athletes, and all students who participate in school functions through leadership, clubs, and sports, deserve a high level of recognition and congratulations.

STUDENT OF THE WEEK
Congratulations to Daniel McKee, a senior, on being nominated CHS Student of the Week. According to his CHS Senior English teacher, “Danny is one of those rare individuals who goes out of his way to say good morning, asks me how I am doing, and then works intellectually and tenaciously to complete assignments.”

His English teacher also said, “He has a positive attitude about everything and is not afraid to stand up for himself, even if it means getting into trouble; he is always willing to help anyone with anything; he truly loves learning, and I am sure he will graduate with honors when he attends UTI.”

Universal Technical Institute is not just an automotive college or auto mechanic school. It is a skills-based trade school that offers an extensive range of transportation-related technician training programs, such as automotive technician training sudents can often complete in about a year. Congratulations to Danny McKee on becoming the CHS Student of the Week.

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