Senator Square: Student starts support group at Carson High School

A new club, and possibly a lifelong career for senior Lyric Untereiner, is starting at Carson High School. According to Lead Safe School Professional Kelly Edmundson, “I am excited to announce a new skill building and support group for girls at CHS; the group is co-created and co-facilitated by myself and CHS senior Lyric Untereiner as part of her senior project graduation requirement.” The group’s name is “The Best YEARS (Your Emotion, Awareness, and Regulation Skills).” According to Untereiner, “I started YEARS to help female students come to terms with emotions in the way that experience did for me.” Each week, members will examine one emotion in-depth, learn about the intricacies and neuroscience of that emotion, discuss personal experiences with that emotion, play with creative expression of that emotion through journaling, drawing, collage, video excerpts, and music, and practice emotion regulation skills which may be applied to their daily lives. Untereiner says, “Teenagers, young girls specifically, balance a lot in their adolescent lives, including relationships and friendships alike; many times, it may be hard to understand and process what they are feeling.” The six emotions are anger (Jan. 30), fear (Feb. 6), sadness (Feb. 13), joy (Feb. 20), guilt (March 6) and shame and the power of resilience (March 13). This is a voluntary group, and students should be genuinely invested in learning more about their emotions and how to better manage them in order to participate. They must have adequate emotion regulation and social skills to engage appropriately and actively in a group setting. To join the group, students must first meet with Edmundson for a brief interview and screening. If accepted, they will need to have written permission (a consent form) from their parent or guardian and must commit to attending all six group meetings scheduled. The first meeting is Jan. 30 from 2:15 to 3:45 p.m., and food will be provided at each meeting. CHS student Lyric Untereiner says about herself that “I had people to talk to, but I felt like they were not able to give me the skill set to deal with what I was experiencing, so I want these girls to have something to take away and apply to their lives.” A late bus leaving at 3:50 is available. For information, call Kelly Edmundson at 775-283-1821. This is one of the major benefits of attending a high school where students may actually find a future career, even before graduating, in part due to the senior project and the dual-enrollment Jump Start program provided through WNC, not to mention CHS’ own Career and Technical Education opportunities.

THEATRE ARTS

This past weekend, 10 CHS Theatre Arts students competed in the Northern Nevada Regional Thespian Competition at Damonte Ranch High School, and all 10 scored high, qualifying to attend the Nevada State Thespian Competition March 8-10. Superior being the highest score, CHS sophomore Arietis Fisher-Burns received a mark of Excellent with her monologues; senior Charlie Moser received a Superior with his monologues; freshman Sydney Lewis received a mark of Excellent for her monologues; junior Cassia Giustra received a Superior for her solo musical theatre and a Superior for duet musical theatre; senior Alexa Haight received an Excellent for her solo musical theatre and a Superior for duet musical theatre; senior Delany Lauderbaugh received an Excellent for her monologues and a Superior for solo musical theatre; junior Amy Redmond received an Excellent for her monologues and an Excellent for duet musical theatre; sophomore Ben Larkin received an Excellent for his monologues and an Excellent for duet musical theatre; junior Angela Cirone received an Excellent for duet musical theatre and a Superior for duet scene; and junior Stephanie Melsheimer received an Excellent for her duet musical theatre and a Superior for duet scene. In addition, Alexa Haight and Cassia Giustra scored a perfect score on their duet musical theatre piece and earned the privilege of showcasing their piece in front of the entire conference. For information on the CHS Theatre Arts, contact CHS teacher Andie (Anderson) Wilkerson at awilkerson@carson.k12.nv.us.

WINTERFEST FOR 2018

The 2018 CHS Winterfest is here, and the theme is “Into the Depps of Winterfest.” It all begins Feb. 1 with an assembly, and Feb. 5 is the first dress-up day emphasizing “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” There will be daytime activities and nighttime activities all week long. Feb. 5 asks students and teachers to dress up as twins (Umpa-Lumpas). The lunchtime activity is team “can(hand)nonball,” and the nighttime activity is movie night at the Galaxy Fandango theatre at 6:30 p.m. Tickets will be pre-sold in the Student Store from Jan. 30 through Feb. 5 for $5. There also will be a door decorating contest for teachers, and they are encouraged to use “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” “Cry Baby,” and “Edward Scissorhands” as their focus; prizes will be given out to the top three doors. Questions? Well, there is much more to come. Email Leadership Advisor Ann Britt at abritt@carson.k12.nv.us. Note: Sign-ups for the Cannonball Tournament, occurring during the week of Winterfest during lunch, need teams with at least seven people and a minimum of two girls, and they need to be in by Feb. 2. The winning team will get free Winterfest T-shirts and pizza.

GIRL EMPIRE

With the assistance of CHS teacher Erin Been, 10 female students attended the Girl Empire conference in Reno at the Holland Project this past weekend. The conference is a unique opportunity to build personal confidence and network with women in leadership roles in the business world. This event offered specific breakouts to inspire an entrepreneurial spirit, leadership, and social change. CHS girls learned tips on developing the best resume, participated in mock interviews with various CEOs, improved their confidence, and elevated their level of professionalism. These leaders gave skills which encouraged girls to be strong and successful leaders in the future. The girls were able to attend the conference because of generous sponsors, and each participant received a T-shirt and lunch. Go to girlmade.co. for information about the event, or email Erin Been at ebeen@carson.k12.nv.us for details.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE

Musical act auditions for Wednesday Night Live are Jan. 31 at lunch in Room 169, the drama room. Those auditioning need to prepare one minute of a musical performance. Talk to Andie (Anderson) Wilkerson or Melanie Proctor for information.

CHS TALENT SHOW

Time once again for the annual CHS talent show at the Carson City Community Center. Auditions are complete, and 14 amazing acts have been chosen to perform Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. This is the major event of Winterfest Week, so come join the fun. There will be students and groups of students singing, dancing, juggling, playing instruments, doing stand-up comedy, and demonstrating their aerial skills with silks. On average, contestants get to perform in front of 700 students. Tickets are $5 for students and staff if purchased before Feb. 6. Ticket prices will double at the door, so save some dinero, and get them early. Tickets may be purchased from any FBLA member, talent show act, or Mrs. Golik in Room 249. MC’s for this year’s show are Landon Truesdale and Jacob Wolz, and there will be a special tribute to Timmy Jones. Email CHS teacher Angila Golik, agolik@carson.k12.nv.us, for information.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

CHS Jan. 22-26 Athletes of the Week are Haley Garber for girls varsity basketball and David Remer for boys varsity wrestling. These athletes, and all students who participate in school functions through leadership, clubs, and sports, deserve a high level of congratulations for going above and beyond society’s expectations.

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

Hannah Presley is a very academically inclined junior at CHS; she has two AP classes and multiple honors classes. Her favorite is Sports Medicine II with Mr. Sakelarios. Hannah is on the CHS swim team, is a member of HOSA, and works at the Carson City Aquatic Facility. She does all of this while holding a 3.8 grade-point average. In her free time, Hannah loves to swim. After graduation, she plans to study biology and become an orthopedic doctor.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

The CHS Senior in the Spotlight this week is Johann Thomsen. Johann is an outstanding CHS senior, maintaining excellent grades during his freshman, sophomore, junior and the first semester of his senior year. He has taken both honors and AP classes while maintaining a 4.338 grade-point average. Johann has been involved in the National Community Band, Carson City Symphony and CHS marching band, and has already been accepted to the University of Nevada, Reno. He plans to acquire a Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis on computer science engineering in order to pursue a career in information technology. With all of Johann’s skills, there is no doubt he will succeed in achieving his future goals. CHS congratulates Johann Thomsen.

Phil Brady is an English teacher at CHS.