Teachers, parents, students celebrate education

Tara Hornemann came away from the Celebrate Education Fair Wednesday with more than just information.

"This is my kind of bulletin board," she said, pulling the package from among a pile of supplies available. "I have to teach season, and this is a seasonal item."

The set included a border and decorations to create a bulletin board with an autumn theme.

Nearly 100 participants attended this year's fair, about 90 more than attended the first event last year.

"We definitely have a better turnout than last year," said Carson High School special-education teacher Shawn Schneider, who organized the fair. "It helps teachers and parents become aware of the wonderful people in the community who are willing to help the youth, as well as the professionals."

The fair hosted about 34 booths ranging from Western Nevada Community College representatives to the Children's Museum and the Ron Wood Family Resource Center.

"This is good especially for new teachers to see what resources are available in the area," said Linda Hurzel, physical education teacher at Bordewich-Bray Elementary School. "It gives a lot of opportunities to make connections with different agencies."

Entertainment was provided by the ROTC, dancers and members of Carson High School's drama department Carson Performing Arts.

Carson Cessna, 17, has been in drama all three years of high school. He said the group played an important role at the fair.

"It shows people that there's more to high school than just sports," he said. "We're just as important as the other departments, and it's important that we show the teachers that."

Group members also promoted their next production, "The Importance of Being Earnest," opening Oct. 17 in Carson High's Black Box Theater.

While many participants took advantage of the resources available, others enjoyed the smaller things.

"I liked getting candy and stuff," said Zachary Hinton, 6.

Schneider was pleased with the increased turnout and plans to continue the fair next year.

"I have visions of it growing even larger."