Senator Square: Carson High School's Teacher of the Month announced

Carson High School announced its Teacher of the Month, Resource Teacher Vivian Tachiquin. Here's more about Mrs. Tachiquin in her own words.

My name is Vivian Tachiquin and I am a Resource Teacher at Carson High School. I am currently co-teaching English III and Creative Writing to Juniors, and I also teach a General Study class where students receive support for their general education classes.

I grew up in Sunnyvale, CA and graduated from San Jose State with a BS Degree in Business and Marketing. I had wanted to be a teacher when I graduated from high school, but they were closing schools in the Bay Area, so I decided to major in Business instead. I worked in Silicon Valley for five years and then became a full-time stay-at-home-mom to raise my three children.

We moved to Nevada 27 years ago and settled in Gardnerville. After many years of volunteering in my children’s classrooms, I decided to fulfill my dream of becoming a teacher. I completed my credential program at Sierra Nevada College with a K-8 License and then added a Generalist K-12 License. This is my 5th year at CHS and my 16th year teaching in the Carson City School District.

I worked at Eagle Valley Middle School for 10 years, and one of the reasons I wanted to come to the high school was to see the continued growth of the students I had worked with at middle school. I enjoy working one-on-one with students and helping them to be successful at school. When I am not at school, I enjoy traveling, taking long walks, and taking jazzercise classes.

My husband and I have a large blended family with our six grown kids, many grandchildren, and even some great grandchildren, which keeps us busy most weekends. I am grateful to have been selected as CHS Teacher of the Month and will continue to enjoy this profession to support our students to be successful in life.

According to CHS teacher Nicole Fagundes, Vivian Tachiquin does a great job helping all special education students. She cares deeply about their success and works hard to help them, and she has a gentle kind manner and explains information in ways which helps the students’ understanding. She works hard helping her co-teachers in addition to getting all her special education duties completed to follow the law (IEPs, progress reports, phone calls, emails to parents, contact with other professionals, etc.).

FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES JOEY HITCHCOCK
Joey Hitchcock, without any suggestions from his peers or teachers, decided to petition CHS Principal Bob Chambers for permission to gather in Senator Square to pray for everyone affected by the fires in California, Nevada, and other places. On Sept. 8, some of those involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes gathered together to ask God for help, help for those who had to evacuate, help for those who have lost their homes, and help and protection to the firefighters and other personnel serving.

BLUE THUNDER BAND PERFORMS AT CHS PEP RALLY FOR FRIDAY’S GAME
The Band thundered in Senator Square Sept. 10 to inspire CHS students and football players and to prepare them for the home football game. They have been working so hard every day to prepare through daily band rehearsals, purchasing uniform accoutrements, and going through every possible scenario so that Friday’s game is spectacular.

In addition to their morning and lunchtime pep rally performances, the seriousness of their preparation will be displayed immediately after school with a 2:30 band rehearsal, a 3:30 call time, a combined rehearsal at 4:45, a dinner brake at 6:00, a Change into Uniforms at 6:15, a warm-up at 6:30, a march to the CHS Stadium and pre-game performance at 7:00, an 8:15 halftime performance and a sendoff at 9:30 if all goes well. This Band is serious about what they do.

HEALTH OCCUPATIONS STUDENTS OF AMERICA HOST CAR WASH
They are working at the car wash right now. Who can beat a $5 car wash…no one. If tickets were purchased early, Carson City community folks may have a car wash for a mere $3. Please come and support CHS’ HOSA students as they fundraise for their travels and competitions. Where is the car wash taking place right now, at CHS from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the ‘U’.

KERRI OXOBY MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP GOLF TOURNAMENT
Silver Oak Golf Course, 1251 Country Club Drive will host the Annual Kerri Memorial Scholarship Golf Tournament Sept. 12. The tournament, a four-person scramble, is limited to the first 60 players to register, so do not wait for this pre-winter activity to pass by as winter is fast approaching.

Proceeds from the event provide scholarships to CHS graduates to attend the University of Nevada, Reno. There will be multiple $200 contest prizes awarded as well, not to mention the post-tournament barbecue at 1224 Crain Street. Prizes will be awarded to the longest drive, closest to the pin, and first and second place team awards. $115 green fees include range balls and a golf cart.

Registration at the event is from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. with a shotgun start at 9:00. In order to register, please contact Silver Oak Golf Course at 841-7000, Steve Oxoby at 742-7224, or go to silveroakgolf.com.

CARSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTNERS WITH CLASSY SECONDS
Carson City School District staff, I am excited to let you know of a new partnership I have made with Classy Seconds, which features10,000 sf of clean, well-priced, lightly used items operated by Advocates to End Domestic Violence here in town. Through our partnership, we will be able to provide our McKinney-Vento and Foster Care students and families with a voucher to Classy Seconds where they may pick out the items in which they are most in need.

I provide you this information with the hopes that as you are cleaning out your closets and homes, you would consider donating to Classy Seconds, located at 3590 Gordon Street in Carson City, knowing the items will stay in the Carson City area and go back to students and families. Classy Seconds has the space available to keep many great items on hand and is a sustainable option to keep up with the ever-changing needs of the students and community.

Please never hesitate to reach out if you have a student with whom you are concerned about or may be in need of services. Thank you. Contributed by Carson City School District Special Projects Coordinator and McKinney-Vento & Foster Care Liaison Christie Perkins. For more information, please call 283-1537, or email cperkins@carson.k12.nv.us.

PURCHASE CHS APPAREL TO SUPPORT SENATORS
CHS Football has recently released its Team Store link to purchase apparel and other items to support the athletic program. If anyone is interested, come on Carson City, everything is purchased online and picked up by yourself at Graphics Factory, very easy and seamless. Those planning to make a purchase will be able to do so next week. As many already know, the first game was cancelled last week because of the dangerous levels of smoke, but it appears there may be a reprieve the next two days to get in the freshmen and junior varsity games. The varsity game was moved from Saturday to Friday at 7:00 for various reasons and as of today teams are full steam ahead and planning to play. CHS Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Blair Roman thanks the faithful community of Carson City for all its support amidst some of these more hazardous times of poor air quality. To purchase some beautiful blue, gray, and black CHS colors, go here.

GRANTS AVAILABLE TO CCSD TEACHERS FROM DOLAN AUTO GROUP
The Dolan Auto Group is providing the following grants for teachers: One Grand Prize winner of $10,000, 13 classrooms with $5,000 prize winnings (voted by the community), and five classrooms with $5,000 prize winnings (voted by the teachers who submitted videos). All it takes to apply is submission of a short video (keep it to two minutes, max) that will be voted on by the community. According to Valerie N. Dockery, Director of Grants & Special Projects with Carson City School District, “I would love to see Carson City teachers receive some of these awards…as always, I am happy to help you focus your ideas.” The last day to submit a video is Oct. 1. Dockery also added, “If students are in the video, make sure you have permission to feature them.” Please go here for more information and to submit a video.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
CHS Athletic Department’s Athletes of the Week are Vincent Ferretti for Varsity Boys Football and Sara Wiggins for Varsity Girls Softball. 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
Nominated by her teacher, Benjamin K. Spence, Kelly Robles, a CHS Senior, is the winner of the Student of the Week. Spence said about Kelly, “I have known her since she was a sophomore, and Kelly tackles every challenge, and approaches the world, with a genuine growth mindset.” Spence went on to say about her, “She has grown as a student and as a person, while always keeping the core of her identity intact; that core is strength, kindness, thoughtfulness, intelligence, and a desire to reach for the stars, and I am proud to have been her teacher.”

Congratulations to Kelly Robles on gaining the positive attention of her teacher and being nominated as the CHS Student of the Week. 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.

SENIOR IN THE SPOTLIGHT
This week’s Senior in the Spotlight is Lukas Taggart. Lukas is an outstanding student with a weighted GPA of 5.05. He consistently takes the most challenging classes available, and he is a candidate for the Advanced Placement Capstone Diploma, which requires students to take six or more AP classes, including AP Seminar and AP Research. Students must also score a three or higher on all six AP exams. Lukas excels not only in the classroom, but also on the golf course. He has been golfing as a hobby since he was five-years-old, and took it up competitively when he began high school.

Starting so late, he knew he had his work cut out for him. He trained with the team as well as taking private lessons. His hard work paid off. He continued to improve his game, and this past summer he qualified to play on the Nevada team for the Junior’s America Cup. Nevada took third place, medaling for the first time in over 20 years. Recently, Lukas verbally committed to attend and play golf for Colorado School of Mines.

He plans to study mechanical and biomedical engineering, and in the future he hopes to work as an engineer or in the medical field. Lukas loves to travel and hopes to get back to international travel in the near future. The place he enjoyed the most so far was Italy. He liked the history and the culture of Rome. Congratulations to Lukas Taggart. CHS is proud of you. — Contributed by CHS Counselor Nicole Hendee.

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