Senator Square: Capital City Arts Initiative presents art by Carson High School students

In 1973, Joseph Beuys said, “Every man is an artist.” Beuys explained only art is capable of building an effective social system, and, “This most modern art discipline — Social Sculpture/Social Architecture — will only reach fruition when every living person becomes a creator, a sculptor, or architect of the social organism.” This is exactly what the artistic students of CHS, and other schools, are doing, and it is the Capital City Arts Initiative that is helping them to make their art visible to the public. CCAI is delighted to present High School Pic[ks] 2018. Thirty-two artists from Carson, Dayton, Douglas, and Pioneer high schools have work in the exhibit in the Community Development Building, 108 E. Proctor St., with an artist’s reception April 24 from 5 to 7 p.m. High School Pic[ks] 2018 includes a wide variety of art media including ceramics, collage, drawing, painting, and photography that show the diversity of the students’ creativity. The exhibition is also posted on CCAI’s website: arts-initiative.org. Three of the CHS students are Amberlee Rangel with her photograph “Streetz;” Emily Richardson’s watercolor grid and Tabitha Dodd with her untitled ceramic vase. The CHS art teachers are Kara Ferrin, Mike Malley, and John Martin. Other CHS students include Ashley Britt, Gina Castillo, Emily Harper, Emma Lippincott, Sefora Marquez, Sam Pilgrim, Emily Richardson, Kylie Schlapkohl, Jessica Stine, and Sarah Woods. Sharon Rosse, CCAI executive director, said, “CCAI is proud of the professional level of the students’ work and of their teachers who encourage and nurture their students’ imaginations and skill levels; innovative people with confident imaginations are a cornerstone of America’s workforce, and CCAI truly appreciates all the students and teachers’ participation.” Also, the Carson City Arts & Culture Coalition is providing a $500 college scholarship to a high school artist/a graduating senior who is going to college. CCACC will select the winner from the work submitted for the show and will be announced at the reception about 5:45 p.m. This is the eighth show in CCAI’s ongoing series of student exhibitions at the Community Development Building. The free exhibition is available to the public from April 15 through July 9.

FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS OF AMERICA STATE RESULTS

The CHS FBLA State results are in, and here are the highlights of a very successful State Business Leadership Conference for FBLA held in Reno. Highlights: 29 students participated from CHS, the most ever, and they were given title “Dominator” Chapter. CHS had 45 Top Ten finishes with 19 National Qualifiers, 1st through 4th place, and some qualified in more than one event; 3 Individual State Champions, all freshmen; 1 Group/Team State Champion; in the Event Business Plan, 7 of the top 10 finishers were from CHS, teacher Billy McHenry’s Shark Tank; 13 CHS students received the Erin Hackmen Scholarship; 7 CHS students earned the honor of National Business Honor Roll, and they are Serena Dantzler, Hannah Golik, Abby Golik, Chris Luna, Kiana Martinez, Karla Torres, Carlos Torres, and Gloria Valdenegro. The Who’s Who in NV FBLA CHS Chapter went to Hannah Golik. Other highlights include Kyle Glanzman, Accounting 9, Business Plan 6, and Sports & Entertainment Management 3; Landon Truesdale Business Plan 6; Cassanova Segura, Agribusiness 9, Intro to Business Communication 9, Publication Design 7, and Social Media Campaign 4; Dawson Lamb, Business Calculations 7, Business Plan 9, and Sports & Entertainment Management 3; Nancy Henricksen, Business Plan 9; Walker MacKenzie, Economics 6, Intro to Business State Champion 1, and Business Plan 7; Carlos Torres, Healthcare Administration 9, Intro to Information Technology 5, Intro to Financial Math 6, Intro to Public Speaking 3, and Public Service Announcement 4; Serena Dantzler, Healthcare Administration 6, Journalism 8, Intro to Public Speaking State Champion 1, and Public Service Announcement 4; Kiana Martinez, Intro to Business 2, Intro to Business Procedures 9, Intro to Financial Math 10, Job Interview 10, and Business Plan 4; Bradley Wiggins, Intro to Business Procedures 2, Intro to Financial Math 4, and Business Plan 3; Jens Robison, Intro to Business Procedures 4, and Business Plan 3; Hannah Golik, Publication Design 4; Sadie Share, Publication Design 4; Abby Golik, Intro to FBLA State Champion 1, Journalism 6, Public Service Announcement 4, and Publication Design 4; Heba Syeddah, Intro to FBLA 4; Gloria Valdenegro, Intro to FBLA 10, Job Interview 5, and Intro to Business Presentation; Areli Solis, Business Ethics State Champions 1, and Public Service Announcement 7; Karla Torres, Business Ethics State Champion 1, and Public Service Announcement 7; Gorjant Mand, Client Service 4, and Sports & Entertainment Management 3; Chloe Walt, Job Interview 7; Makayla Mueller, Client Service 4; Jacob Nichols, Business Plan 5, and Marketing 2; Andrea Delgado, Business Plan 10; Chris Luna, Business Plan 10; Nick Fischer, Public Service Announcement 8, and Broadcast Journalism 9; Jaden Anderson, Publication Design 7, and Social Media Campaign 4th place.

CARSON’S GOT TALENT

CHS students Alexa Haight, Amara Tedford and Cassia Giustra received top awards at the Carson’s Got Talent Competition April 14 at the Carson City Community Center. The show, a fundraiser for the Carson City Senior Center and Meals on Wheels program, featured 19 acts from around Northern Nevada. Junior Cassia Giustra and senior Alexa Haight took second place and won $250 with their musical theater duet, “I Will Never Leave You,” from the Broadway production of Side Show. Freshman Amara Tedford took third and won $100 with her dance solo to “Art Official Cage” by Prince. Also, a shoutout goes to St. Teresa’s student Kyra Gonzalez winning $500 and first place with her dance solo. Congratulations to these talented students who invested hours of their time in order to win support for others.

SAFE GRAD 5K

Due to inclement weather, the 8th annual Safe Grad 5K Run and Walk was rescheduled and took place April 14. There were 75 registered runners and walkers in the event with 13 sponsors who gave countless donated raffle prizes. The Safe Grad runners winning times are: 19 and over male winner was Angel Andraca with a time of 18:33.85; 19 and over female runner was Kathy Souza with a time of 27:06.96; 18 and under male winner was Rayne Jesse with 39:32.97; female 18 and under runner Jenaya Meyer won with a time of 30:45.39. Safe and Sober 5K was still able to raise $6,487.41 with the rescheduled event. Volunteers are always needed for CHS Safe Grad. Meetings happen the second Saturday every month at RE/Max Realty, 716 N. Carson St., on the second floor. Email questions to carsonhighsafegrad@gmail.com.

ADVANCEMENT VIA INDIVIDUAL DETERMINATION

A new event at CHS, Night of all Nations, took place April 13 with an evening celebrating cultural diversity through that which brings all people together: Food. People brought food reflecting their cultural identity, and there were tables set up in Senator Square for each country represented; everyone in Carson City was invited. Admission is $2. Contact CHS English teacher Rachel Avidano at ravidano@carson.k12.nv.us for details about participating next year.

CHS JAZZ ENSEMBLE

The “Midnight Blues” Jazz Ensemble performed at the Gold Country Jazz Festival April 13 and 14 and received a rating of “Excellent.” Not only was the band invited to participate, it was the first jazz band from outside of California ever to participate in the five years of the festival.

PTSA REFLECTIONS COMPETITION WINNERS

CHS PTSA held a Reflections Contest with the theme “Within Reach,” and all work was original with no copyrighted material used. Categories were literature, photography, musical composition, dance, and film. CHS teacher Wendy Tims presented a $100 prize to the winners: Jessica Preston won for Visual Arts Welding and Paint, and Makenzie McDaniel won for Photography.

SENIOR PROJECTS

CHS senior project presentation day is April 23 at 8 a.m. Every year, CHS invites the Carson City community to partner with these students through volunteering to judge and serve on speech panels. Volunteering and partnering with CHS is a much appreciated sacrifice on the part of judges, and the administration, faculty, and staff are grateful for the support. Questions about the SP? Email Senior Project Coordinator Lavon Sollberger, lsollberger@carson.k12.nv.us.

CHEER TRYOUTS

It is time to pick the CHS Cheer Team for 2018-2019. Tryouts are April 25-27 in the big gym. For information, contact Coach Sheila Story at sstory@carson.k12.nv.us.

ATTENTION SENIORS

Seniors who have been offered a scholarship, or have received a scholarship, are being asked to contact the CHS counseling office as soon as possible so they may be recognized at Salute to Scholars night as well as have their names placed in the awards program for graduation. Please contact counselor Mandy Chambers at 775-283-1915 in order to let her know the details.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

The Athletes of the Week for April 16-20 are Nicole Van Geel for girls varsity swim and Jared Barnard for boys varsity baseball. These athletes, and all students who participate in school functions through leadership, clubs, and sports, deserve a high level of recognition and congratulations.

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

The CHS Student of Week is McKenzie Henley-Ballard, nominated by CHS Language Arts teacher Alyssa Smith. McKenzie has lettered academically all four years at CHS and has also attained her varsity tennis letter. All of her classes this year are both honors and AP; in particular, she enjoys learning French in which she is enrolled in her fourth year. McKenzie is a director in and member of Link Crew. She is lighthearted, hardworking, proactive, and caring, and she can solve a Rubik’s Cube and flip markers on the top of a whiteboard. There is just no limit to what McKenzie Henley-Ballard can accomplish.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

This week the CHS Senior in the Spotlight is Kamille Soderstrom. Kami is an outstanding student with an overall grade-point average of 4.22. She continues to maintain at least an “A” or “B” in all of her rigorous courses. Some of her rigorous course load is found in the fact she is in her fourth year of both photography and French. Kami is not only a good student, she is also a very active member of the CHS community. Kami has been involved in volleyball and track all four years at CHS as well as three years of Link Crew and National Honor Society. Kami spends time outside of the school day helping with the middle school volleyball team at one of the local private schools. She also tutors students with special needs. In the future, Kami plans to attend the University of Nevada, Reno in the fall where she will major in business. She really enjoys the photography program and is hoping to someday open her own photography business. In addition to working as a photographer in her future, Kami says she is also considering teaching as a career. The administrators, teachers, and staff of CHS know Kami Soderstrom will be successful at everything in which she places her heart.

Phil Brady is an English teacher at CHS.