Senator Square: Carson FCA member shares vision; plus FFA, JROTC competitions and more

Editor’s Note: Writer Joseph Hitchcock is an FCA member and senior at Carson High School. This is his report.

My name is Joey Hitchcock, I am a senior at Carson High School, and I am a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes at CHS. FCA is a group who comes together once-a-week at lunch to pray, have a Bible study, and fellowship together.

All students are welcome to attend, and they do not have to be a Christian or an athlete to be a part of it. I attend the Bridge Church in Carson City, and we have worship nights the first and third Fridays of the month. On one of our worship nights back in July, our associate pastor, Brady Roser, shared a vision God gave him for this generation. Known as Gen Z, specifically youth 12 to about 26-years-old, roughly, the vision showed youth of Carson City digging holes; there were people the youth knew as their parents, church leaders, and teachers who were putting them down and saying why are you digging these pointless holes?

Then, all of a sudden, a youth at the back of the group digging holes yelled “We hit it!” Water then poured, gushed, throughout the other holes, and God said it is because youth are pursuing God's righteousness. Pastor Roser shared God is saying to the youth, you are going to be the generation to show the old people what it means to worship, to be the generation of what it means to bring life to the old.

You are going to be the generation we have been crying out for, for over four generations. You have seen the world and all you want is God's righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Share this with your friends. When people ask you what are you doing, why are you doing this, let them know it is because you are going to strike the beautiful waters of our Holy Spirit pouring out on you.

When one hits, it is going to pour out into all the others. That is for a future to come to the ones who do not know about God yet. Those at your schools, at your college, your high school, your middle school, it is going to pour out in your generation. God is doing miracles, and God is going to use this generation to bring people closer to Christ. 
  
STEM AND PODCASTING MAKERS MONDAY
The CHS and Carson City Library’s partnership to provide resources and events for students continues. J. Hodnett from the Carson City Library joined CHS students for a Makers Monday Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) activity. The Sept. 27 event was podcasting, and students had an opportunity to play with the equipment and check out the resources to use at home.

The next event will be Virtual Reality Oct. 25 at lunch in the Carson High @SenatorsLibrary. Until then, CHS Students are invited to the Virtual Teen Space at carsoncitylibrary.org/digitorium/. Anyone may check this out by clicking on the Digi Calendar for links to virtual and in person events. Looking for a creative challenge? Check out InkTober, a daily drawing prompt in the Digi Calendar. — Contributed by Media Specialist and CHS Librarian Ananda Campbell.

FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA CHAPTER SOILS COMPETITION
The Capitol FFA Chapter had two soil judging teams compete at the Nevada FFA State Soils Contest in Battle Mountain. CHS teams Troy Lannom, Gabriel Fairbank, Hannah McCoy, and Owen Hunt took second place, and Chloe Crookshanks, Alejandro Beltran, Parker Story, and Josiah White placed fifth.

Four CHS students placed in the top 10 individually: Troy Lannom took fourth high individual, Chloe Crookshanks took sixth, Gabriel Fairbank took ninth, and Hannah McCoy took tenth. CHS is proud of these students, and they represented Carson High well. — Contributed by Capitol FFA Advisor, Carson Ag Teacher, and National Agriscience Teacher Ambassador Charlie Mann.

OCTOBER BEGINS WITH A SWINGING START
Oct. 1 began with a monthly swinging start from the CHS Jazz Band in a Senator Square performance, starting at 7:05. Band Director Nick Jacques and his musical student musicians played a six-song-set of new, never-before-heard selections to give students, teachers, and administrators a fantastic Friday swingin' start.

CHS JROTC COMPETES IN NORTHERN NEVADA DRILL MEET
On Sept. 25, North Valleys High School hosted the first Northern Nevada JROTC Drill Meet of the school year. Schools from the Northern Nevada area competed with their very best Cadets. A Drill Meet is a one-day competition where Cadets join teams in categories such as Unarmed Regulation, Unarmed Exhibition, Armed Regulation, Armed Exhibition, Color Guard, Platoon Inspection, Academics, and a New Cadet Squad drill team.

Regulation drill observes Cadets drilling by the book and attempting to reach absolute perfection and fluidity with movements and marching. Exhibition Drill allows team commanders to create their own complex movements and deviates very much from standard regulation drill. Color Guard teams present the nation’s flag with pride and honor and adhere to strict movement and presentation guidelines.

Cadets also participated in a Platoon Inspection, in which a series of judges inspected them on uniform preparedness and military knowledge. CHS Navy JROTC Cadets earned several trophies: Cadet Noa Blann, a first year Cadet, commanded the New Cadet Squad team to a first place finish, Cadet Diana Pierrott, the unit’s Cadet Commanding Officer, led her Armed Regulation Team and the Platoon Inspection team to a second and third place finish, Senior Cadet Gisela Vazquez and Sophomore Cadet Taelyn Ailes also led their Unarmed Regulation and Color Guard teams to a fifth and sixth place finish. — Contributed by CHS Senior and Cadet Alex Beccera.

JOIN THE PARENT TEACHER’S ASSOCIATION AND SERVE OTHERS
CHS PTA membership lunch is Oct. 4 from 11:00 to 1:00 at the high school in the upstairs cafeteria. For the small, but worthwhile price of $10, interested individuals will receive three, yes three, tacos, rice, and beans and become a member of the PTA. For more information, please call CHS Parent Engagement Coordinator Leticia Servin at 283-1620. Sign up for lunch by going here.

SAFEGRAD IS BACK
There is much to discuss during next week's meeting. From the Craft Fair fast approaching next month, replacing coordinators, board member positions to fill, this year's 5K, and much more. Please consider coming out to the meeting, less than an hour, and help students receive a grand celebration this year. Come and help us decide what is best for the students of Carson High for this year and years to come.

Cannot attend in person, please contact SafeGrad President Kyra Hinton, who will send a Zoom link. Physical meeting is at Carson ReMax, 716 North Carson Street, second floor, Oct. 5 at 6:00 p.m. For more information, please contact SafeGrad President Kyra Hinton at 434-760-0635, send mail to Carson High Safe Grad Booster, PO Box 486, Carson City, NV 89702, or email carsonhighsafegrad@gmail.com Visit on the web at carsonhighsafegrad.com or Facebook: Carson SafeGrad.

ARMED SERVICES VOCATIONAL APTITUDE BATTERY TEST IS HERE
Seniors, thinking about a career in the military, possibly? Interested in seeing where career skills lie? Receiving a rad Career Ready Diploma, but have not taken the Career and Technical Education pathway?

A yes to any of these questions should result in a sign up now because CHS has an ASVAB test scheduled for Oct. 6 after school in the CHS Library, and it requires seniors to bring a charged Chromebook. Questions, please see Mrs. Roman in the library career center, but first, however, fill out this form by going here.

4th ANNUAL BOOSTERS AND ALUMNI GOLF TOURNAMENT
On Oct. 16 at Silver Oak Golf Course, the Campagni Auto Group, Carson City Toyota, and Capitol Ford are sponsoring the 4th Annual Boosters and Alumni Golf Tournament. Registration is due by 7:30 a.m., and 9:00 a.m. is the shotgun start. Green fees are $100 per player with a barbecue, raffle prizes, a $250 hole sponsor, halftime recognition, a $10,000 hole-in-one, and a car hole-in-one.

Register at www.senatorsfootball.com. For questions, donations, and more information, call Paul Longshore at 846-4362. Proceeds from this tournament are awarded to CHS football players as well as other student athletic scholarships through the Shane Quilling and Jake Roman Memorial Funds.

HOLIDAY CRAFT FAIR IS A GO
The school year is going well, and the Carson High Holiday Craft Fair is a GO for Nov. 19 and 20, 2021. There are a limited number of spaces available for interested vendors, so now is the time to make a decision. To sell, or not to sell…that is the question. There are 8x12 and 5x8 spaces available in Senator Square, and the craft fair needs adult volunteers to assist with admissions, raffle, vendor check-in, volunteer check-in, and parking assistance.

The shifts are two hours long, and the hours are donated as a cash stipend to CHS students’ clubs, sports, or class. All proceeds from this event go directly to CHS students, and the craft fair also awards CHS Senior Scholarships, which go to the college of the senior’s choice. Please contact Cathy Barbie at 882-8109 for more information.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
CHS Athletic Department’s Athletes of the Week are Jacob Frazer for Varsity Boys Tennis, McKenna Budd for Varsity Girls Cross Country, Omar Quintanilla and Dominic Valdez for Varsity Boys Cross Country. 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
Vellocity Wahl, a senior, is the CHS Student of the Week. Vellocity literally jumped at the opportunity to help a disabled individual by opening a hallway door, checking to see how he was doing, and wishing him a great day. Wahl is a seaman’s apprentice with the CHS NJROTC, and she is looking at becoming a petty officer. In addition to desiring to serve her country and others, Wahl is a BMX racer by the Edmonds’ Sports Park. She enjoys sleeping, playing Fortnite, and will soon enlist with the Navy or attend a college with an ROTC program. She is also signed up to complete the ASVAB Oct. 6. Congratulations to Vellocity Wahl on standing out among others and being nominated CHS Student of the Week.

SENIOR IN THE SPOTLIGHT
David Mariscal Gonzalez, this week’s Senior in the Spotlight, is an outstanding student and the epitome of a college and career ready student as well as a gentleman. Teacher Cheryl Macy taught him in Education 101 and shares “After we visited a school, an administrator specifically commented on his professionalism, and another teacher complimented him to me saying even though he has never had her as a teacher, he always makes a point to address her when he walks by. He is friendly and supportive of his peers.

He can disagree in a respectful way. David walks a fine line between being quiet and being proactive. He was struggling with the fact that a colleague of his was getting paid more, despite the fact this colleague called in sick often and was often on his phone and not working. David shared with me he respectfully addressed the issue with his boss, who granted him a pay increase.”

David earned his Academic Letter by maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.83 and weighted GPA of 4.58. Along with taking five AP classes this year, he is concurrently enrolled in his second education course at WNC. Additionally, David works after school as a manager at a local restaurant. He is a member of the National Honor Society, has earned his Certificate of Skill Attainment for Ornamental Horticulture and Greenhouse Management, and was highly successful in 13 other Honors and AP classes.

He competes in Speech and Debate and recently earned a first place in Policy Debate with his partner and earned a first place last year in Informative Speaking. David will be attending UNR next Fall majoring in Secondary Education with a focus in History. CHS looks forward to when he returns to teach at Carson High School. — Contributed by CHS Counselor Dori Draper.

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