Carson Middle School teacher travels to Washington, D.C., for $25,000 award

Ellen Fallon, a math teacher at Carson Middle School, was among 91 teachers, principals and specialists from across the country honored May 18 at a Milken Family Foundation reception at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. She was one of two Nevada teachers, including Valarie Young from Las Vegas, to travel to D.C. for the gala.

"It was wonderful," Fallon said. "It was a very special affair."

She received $25,000 from the Milken Family Foundation for being chosen a Milken Educator of the Year. She has not decided what to do with the award.

"It's a lot of money," she said. "This is somewhat of a lifetime-achievement award. I think it needs to be used for something very special."

She and Young also met with senators Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., on Capitol Hill during the weekly Thursday breakfasts to welcome Nevada residents to town.

"In some ways, that was equally as exciting as the dinner," she said.

Since 1985, the Milken Family Foundation has given over $54 million to kindergarten through 12th-grade educators across the nation.

"Education is critical for our future," Fallon said. "And for the Milken Family Foundation to recognize that and to honor that is a wonderful thing. Their philanthropy is outstanding."

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Rebecca Fox, 17, a junior at Carson High School, is headed for Carnegie Hall in New York City on June 7-9 to receive a gold medal in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Using an assigned theme of "tree," Fox created a pottery piece that resembles multiple tree branches running up a large, heavy, upright pottery piece. More than 1,200 artists will be honored with gold or silver awards. More than 200,000 artworks were submitted.

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The Nevada Commission on Tourism has launched a new "mini" Web site devoted entirely to golf that provides details about each of the more than 100 golf courses across Nevada, in addition to photos and links to online booking services, according to Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt.

The "mini site" is contained within the commission's primary Web site, www.travelnevada.com. It is reachable by clicking on the home page "golf" icon or going to www.golf.travelnevada.com.

The mini site enables visitors to search every golf course in the state, view color photos of many courses, link to booking sites and order the 2006 Nevada Golf Guide.

"Visitors to Nevada are often surprised by the variety and sophistication of golf courses in our state," said Hunt, commission chairwoman, in a press release. "With our range of high-caliber courses in addition to our hotels, world-class dining and entertainment, Nevada is the ideal destination for a golf vacation, and now travelers can more easily plan their trip before hitting the road."

The commission's program is a collaborative effort of several regional golf Web sites and will promote statewide golf year-round, focusing on Southern Nevada in the winter and Northern Nevada in the summer.

It's the first mini site NCOT has launched, and it will be promoted through an e-mail marketing campaign targeted at golfers in the western United States, Director Bruce Bommarito said.

The innovations in Web marketing make it increasingly feasible to target specific niches of visitors rather than mass market to everyone, he said.

There are more than 100 golf courses in Nevada, many designed by such golf heavyweights as Arnold Palmer and Peter Jacobsen. In addition to golf, visitors looking for a little action can take advantage of Nevada's miles of hiking and biking trails, rushing whitewater rivers, snowcapped peaks for skiing and snowboarding and towering cliffs perfect for mountain climbing.