Churchill County School District Highlights

Churchill County High School

Students in Dave Dakin's Construction Home Building class had an incredible first semester.

“They have accomplished more than they thought they would,” Dakin said.

The home is enclosed and the students are very proud of how far they have come.

“We are proud of these students. Their confidence has skyrocketed in seeing what they are capable of. We are so thankful to Dave Dakin for making this class so worthwhile for our students,” Vice Principal Rachel Knight said.

Students in Alyssa Tousignant’s class show their appreciation trees.

 

Churchill County Middle School

Students in Vickie Purrell’s class had a Starbucks Hot Cocoa Workday to celebrate the end of the first semester. This was a surprise reward for working so hard this semester.

“I had students fill out a hot cocoa order form and then they got to cash in their tickets for the final time while I served them homemade hot cocoa exactly how they liked it,” Purrell said.

The students played card games and challenged themselves to figure out two Digital Breakouts-sort of like escape rooms.

“It was such a fun way to celebrate the end of the first semester and kick off the beginning of Winter Break,” Purrell said.

Numa

Numa librarian Samantha Baglin made great use of several boxes of gently used books that have been sitting in the back room of the school’s library.

Baglin displayed all the books on the tables in the library and invited classes to come in so students could browse through all the books. As they found a great book for family or friends, Baglin helped them wrap it up as Christmas gifts.

“We absolutely loved this creative idea,” said school counselor Noreen Swenson. “Not only did these books find new homes, but students felt so good about picking out a gift for their family members or even their friends. Samantha encouraged them all the give the gift of reading this holiday season and it was really something special.”

Students in Stacey Manning's class visit Highland Manor and the Homestead to sing Christmas carols to residents, give them cards and flowers.

 

E.C. Best

During December, students in Alyssa Tousignant’s third-grade class worked on their appreciation trees. Tousignant had students write a statement of appreciation about each of their classmates.

“We discussed how sometimes the greatest gift doesn't cost anything, it is about bringing joy to people, even in small ways,” Tousignant said.

After students submitted their appreciation statements, Tousignant turned them into appreciation trees, which she printed and laminated. The day before break, she gifts these to her students for them to take home and display.

Tousignant said she looks forward to doing this project with her students every year.

“It is my absolute favorite project,” Tousignant said. “There is nothing like seeing each student light up as they read all of the nice things their classmates said about them. It truly makes my entire year and is a great way to leave each other before the long holiday break.”

Lahontan

December was a full month for the students in Stacey Manning’s first-grade class. They learned about the December holidays and the diversity of the holidays for people.

“We learned about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas,” Manning said. “We did several writing projects for these holidays and learned about how Hanukkah and Christmas both bring hope to their people.”

The students also wrote a letter to Santa and even wrote a sequencing story about what they would see if they had the opportunity to be a passenger on the Polar Express.

“This was a great activity and got the students thinking creatively about what they would see and what they would ask for if they were chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas,” Manning added.

Students also learned that Christmas is a time of giving and a time to help out those in need or those less fortunate if possible.

“We learned several songs for the holidays and then we ended our holiday learning by taking a field trip to the two elderly homes in town, Highland Manor and The Homestead. We were able to go caroling and sing songs to their residents,” Manning said.

In addition, the students also made the residents holiday cards and Manning bought them flowers to hand out to all of them.

“The kids were so excited to go and share the songs they learned,” Manning added. “Two of the girls were so touched afterward because they said that two of the residents had tears in their eyes. They told my girls that we brought them tears of joy – which made my student's hearts feel so good about the day.”

Northside Early Learning Center

NELC invited their families in for an afternoon of gingerbread decorating and Christmas music with the students before they were dismissed for winter break. Students even got a surprise visit from Santa and the Grinch.

“There is really nothing that compares to family engagement events, especially during the holiday season,” said Early Childhood & Online Learning TOSA Amanda Hammer. “Seeing the teachers making these memories for their students and getting to share that joy with our families is such a gift.”