CCSD news: Book fairs, fire safety, and purple handprints

Churchill County School District

In lieu of parent-teacher conferences, CCHS held a fall open house whereby students led their conferences and showed their parents what they have been learning.

CCHS Principal Tim Spencer knew he wanted to do something a little different this year than they have done in previous years.

“I've made it a priority to host events that are meaningful and culture-changing. I felt that offering our families this kind of opportunity to come to our school and visit with their student's teachers, was extremely important to the growth of our school,” he said.

 This year, CCHS implemented Employability Skills as part of their grading system. Attending the fall open house event was an assignment required by all staff at the high school. To receive credit students were tasked with getting their parents/guardians to the open house, conducting a student-led conference for each course at the high school, and turning in their passports for credit.

“The turnout was more than I ever could have imagined,” Spencer said. “It was a very well-attended event that was meaningful for our students and their families. It was a great opportunity to share what we do in a welcoming and inviting environment.”

Vice Principal Rachel Knight said it was an inspirational night.

“Just seeing the students take so much pride in their school and their work was amazing, Vice Principal Reema Pulsifer said.

She said there is truly no education without staff, teachers, students, families and most of all — the community. “We promise, that if you value your child’s learning, our schools grow and become better,” Pulsifer said. “I want to thank everyone involved and who attended for assisting us in building that bridge between CCHS and our community. Parents are not perfect and neither are we — but together as a TEAM, we can move mountains.”

Churchill County Middle School

Students were given the opportunity to place a purple handprint on a Churchill County bus after they took a pledge to use their hands for helping and not hitting. Domestic Violence Intervention, Inc. visited all schools this last week and taught students the importance of not using their hands for hitting. DVI believes visiting the schools is a very important aspect of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, because children are the future, and the cycle cannot be broken unless they are educated.

Numa

Numa held a Family Fall Festival and Book Fair on Oct. 19. Families shopped at the book fair and also enjoyed a variety of activities.

“We had a bounce house from McFadden Entertainment, Sam Ugalde and the CCHS volunteer club ran some fun carnival games, fourth- and fifth-grade teachers hosted Guesstimation Jars and Limbo, our art teacher had several volunteers helping with face painting, and fourth grade teacher, Mrs. McFadden, had a fall-themed photo booth,” counselor Noreen Swenson said.

They also had a cake walk and bake sale in the cafeteria with homemade treats donated by Tanzie Black, of Black Family Treats and Gifts. There were several themed baskets donated by the community that were raffled off, and students could also buy $1 raffle tickets for a chance to throw a pie at Principal Shawn Purrell.

“Mr. Purrell was such a great sport and allowed us to draw two winning tickets for each grade level at our SOAR awards assemblies,” Swenson said.

All the proceeds from the book fair go to support the Numa library, and all the other money collected or donated during the evening went to Numa’s PTO fund to support student activities and supplies for students and teachers throughout the year.

“The festival was very well attended. We were truly overwhelmed by the support we received and cannot thank our staff, families, and community members enough for making this night such an incredible success,” Swenson said.

E.C. Best

First-quarter Difference Makers were recognized by Principal Keith Boone during a school-wide assembly. These students were selected by their teachers as model Bulldogs who display the four Bs (Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Responsible & Be Respectful) daily at school.

“We started Difference Makers my first year at E.C. Best Elementary back in 2008 to recognize students that are making a difference either for themselves, their classmates, family, their school, or their community,” Boone said. “One Difference Maker is recognized from each class on the last day of each quarter.”

 Second-grader Aaron Gonzales, was one of the students recognized and said it was “positively cool.” 

Lahontan

Students in Stacey Manning's class have been learning about all things fall and pumpkins for the last few weeks. They read and listened to lots of stories about fall and pumpkins. Then they wrote about what they do and see in the fall and made fall wreaths and a fall tree out of their wreaths.

Students also explored the inside and outside of a pumpkin using their senses and then made a pumpkin and wrote about what they observed in the real pumpkin. The class ended their pumpkin and fall unit by taking a trip to Lattin Farms Pumpkin Patch.

What a great way to end such a fun unit.

Northside

Students had a visit from the Fallon Churchill Volunteer Fire Department to review fire safety and prevention. Students learned about fire safety, the need for a home evacuation plan, and the importance of “stop, drop, and roll.”

The FCFD also showed the students what they looked like in full uniform and gear to reduce fear in the event of a rescue.

The students also enjoyed meeting Sparky, the fire department mascot.