BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Carson High School students from left, Kelsey Dockery, 16; Molly Champion, 17; and Bryan Byrne, 16, helped decorate a wall in Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar with Carson High School memorabilia. The juniors are in leadership roles with the C-Unity student pride group at the school.
When Sarah Piggott moved to Carson City last year to teach at Carson High, she was surprised at the level of school spirit.
Then she decided to change it.
"When I came, I was hoping for more spirit," Piggott said. "I wanted to be a part of something that could be great."
After a group of teachers formed Senator Pride, Piggott volunteered to form a companion student pride group called C-Unity.
Recently, the group refurbished the CHS memorabilia wall at Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar, adding more clubs and spirit items for the first time in 13 years.
Group co-president Molly Champion said, "We did it for school spirit because (Carson High) didn't have any. Now people have been supporting the school and cheering more."
The updated wall includes uniforms, trophies, team pictures and candid shots of 15 of the schools clubs, sports and groups.
"It think it's important that we tried to incorporate all the areas of the school, not just the sports," said Kelsey Dockery, another co-president.
Dockery said the wall is representative of the students at CHS and the many activities the school offers.
"I enjoy all the activities and people; there's so much to do you are constantly busy," Dockery said.
Applebee's general manager Anthony Bencomo said the restaurant wants to become part of the community and show its support for Carson High.
"This is a good way for us to get kids in here and get their pictures up," Bencomo said. "Our big thing is community. We try to get involved and show our support. We do fundraisers for the schools, and just want to be a part of Carson City."
While some of the existing memorabilia was incorporated into the new design, most of the photos were taken back to the school to make a history wall later this year.
Now that the wall has been modernized, the group hopes to come back on an annual basis and add new photos and items.
Piggott said the group will continue to organize activities to foster school spirit in existing and future students, including an awards banquet Dec. 6, preparing holiday baskets for the CHS custodial staff, and possibly a fifth- grade field day next spring.
"We want to make (the younger students) realize that they will be Senators soon," Piggott said.
As for her favorite piece on the wall, the math teacher said there's no contest: the group photo of the math department.
• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.