This program brought you in part by the Erika Lewis Endowment Fund.

(Maria Silva) Coming up on Student Spotlight, a first-of-its-kind class at Fremont Academy of Medical Sciences.

(Som Sokretpanha) In this class, we're learning about the basics of AI and how AI applies to medicine.

-Then a field trip to the Neon Museum... What students at Triggs Elementary are learning about Nevada history.

Plus... Providing kids the clothes they need to succeed in the classroom.

Go inside Operation School Bell at Assistance League of Las Vegas.

And...

Celebrating School Namesake and Las Vegas Icon Miss Ruby Duncan.

Those stories and so much more, Student Spotlight starts right now.

[swiping sound] Welcome to Student Spotlight.

I'm your host, Maria Silva, and I am super proud to be here at John C. Fremont Middle School, my alma mater.

That's right, I was once a student at Fremont Middle School a few years ago.

Wink, wink.

Let me tell you, today's Fremont Professional Development and Academy of Medical Sciences Middle School is a lot different than the Fremont I remember.

Fremont recently became a magnet school, and students and staff moved into this state-of-the-art building last school year.

The focus here is on preparing students for careers in the medical field.

And as we found out, learning how to understand new technology, like AI, plays a big part.

It is 8th period for these 8th graders at Fremont Professional Development Middle School and Academy of Medical Sciences.

-We're going to continue to read all those articles.

-The class?

Advanced Bio Medicine with a Focus on AI Technology.

AI, as in... -AI is artificial intelligence.

It's basically making computers perform intelligent, intelligent tasks or human tasks.

(Jayden Marave) We're learning about AI and how it works in the medical field.

-This course is the first of its kind in the Clark County School District.

(Itza Espino-Gomez) So our motto is "Prepared for All Things," in omnia paratus.

So we wanted to make sure our students are prepared for their future.

And one of the things that is growing now is AI.

-The class covers everything from how AI algorithms function-- (Daniel Cook) Yeah, like, I find it very intriguing how computers can even do such complex things.

Like, how does it all work?

- --to how AI is working in medicine right now.

(Lysander Barrientos) But right now, we're understanding how it's being used in like surgeries and spotting-- like in spotting collapsed lungs and all that.

-But the future of AI is also a big focus.

(Dr. Abigail Johnson) It's everywhere around us, we just don't realize.

And it's going to become more prevalent and, I really think, determine a lot of about in our society and our workforce in the coming years.

-How it can help?

-A few examples of that could be, like, diagnosis of certain conditions; spotting out, like, what kind of treatments could be used to help somebody.

-And issues to watch for.

-Because right now we know AI is not perfect, and so if they're inspired to also help change how AI is working, they can also do that in their respective fields if they decide not to go into medicine.

-The goal is to help students navigate and better understand a quickly developing technology.

-The future of AI?

It'll definitely help in a lot more careers.

A lot more people will start using it.

-I think AI would help me into like, like writing notes, prescriptions, if, like, they need any.

-As they prepare for careers in the medical field.

-I just want our kids to be on the forefront, leading that charge, because they're amazing, they're brilliant, and I trust them with our future.

-What bright students.

Bravo!

We'll learn more about Fremont and what this magnet school offers later in the show, but for now, let's go on a field trip.

Love those field trips.

We tagged along with 4th graders from Triggs Elementary School as they learned about our state's history and much more at the Neon Museum.

(Londyn Love) We're at the Neon Museum.

(Yanely Diaz Ortega) We got to come to the Neon Museum for a field trip.

(Harley Bucklan) It's where there's, like, a bunch of signs that aren't up anymore, and then we put them into, like, this big place so that people could still see them.

(Matt Borek) We run field trips four days a week at the Neon Museum.

We divide our field trips into three parts.

We have an intro session in the lobby.

That's a way to introduce the kids to our space.

-In 4th grade here at CCSD, we teach all the standards that are about Nevada: history, the economy, and everything.

So we're actually using this as a base point so we can start teaching them everything about Nevada: mining, gaming, all of the above.

-All right.

This is our Moulin Rouge sign.

It was very important in Las Vegas history.

It was the only hotel and casino at the time that allowed people of color and white people to be in the same space together.

-The tour tends to be based on the theme of the field trip.

Today's, for example, was social studies field trip.

It was based on the industries of Nevada, so we point that out through the collection as we go.

-Anderson Dairy, what do you think that industry was?

(students) Agriculture.

-Agriculture, right?

In your little guides, can you draw your showgirl a new headdress?

(Parker Henshaw) There were little assignments.

Like, you just had to match the job to the industry.

-They can learn so much about, just like, Las Vegas history, which ties in with Nevada history, just with just a simple sign.

-They were telling us all about the signs.

We see cool stuff, like, like the Golden Nugget.

-Just even learning about Anderson Milk.

It's from here.

They had no idea.

They were so surprised.

-We always try to have a hands-on activity for kids that is kind of the final third of the field trip so they can apply what they learned on the tour and then do something with it.

-That's where I'm excited.

Once I start teaching the Nevada social history standards, it's like, Do you guys remember this sign?

Then go off of it and have fun.

-We are a sign museum, but we also can tell history through that.

We can tell science.

-Do you hear it?

That's the electricity rattling around.

-Neon is a type of gas that glows.

-Do you see how it's moving?

(student) Oh, yeah, it is.

-Do you see it?

(students) Oh, yeah.

-We do storytelling lessons.

We can do a lot of different things with the materials that are here.

-I had a lot of fun being here at the Neon Museum.

-I'm from Las Vegas, so I very much enjoy coming here, and I love that I got to come back with my class.

(students) Thank you, Neon Museum!

The Neon Museum expects to welcome about 3,500 students this school year alone, from kindergartners to seniors in high school.

Want to learn more?

Make sure to check out the Neon Museum's Steam Saturdays, another great learning opportunity.

Find out all about the great experiences the Neon Museum offers.

Visit neonmuseum.org.

Now let's head to Mountain View Elementary School for our first "News Break."

-Hi, I'm London.

-And I'm Jaden from Mountain View Elementary, and we're here with your first "News Break."

-Do you know that it's Hispanic Heritage Month?

This special month is celebrated every year from September 15 to October 15.

It's a time to celebrate the history, culture, and contributions of Hispanic Americans.

-Rancho High School helped the Raiders recreate some of the most amazing moments in history.

The boys football and the girls flag football teams learned the plays, then performed them in front of a big crowd during the Raiders preseason football game.

How cool, right?

-We had a big ribbon cutting for our school because it's brand new.

Our new campus is a new design for CCSD elementary schools.

We have flexible learning spaces and geometric things.

Our original school was built in 1954, so this is a big change.

Later in this show, we're going to tell you more about our school.

-But for now, let's send it back to Maria.

-Thank you so much, London and Jaden.

Great job!

We can't wait to learn more about your wonderful school.

Well, learning doesn't end when the school day ends.

After school activities and clubs provide students the chance to explore interests, make new friends, increase interest in school, and so much more.

Now, we recently went to Bonanza High School to find out more about some extracurricular activities offered at that school.

Our visit, by the way, fell during Homecoming Week and Wear Your Pajamas to School Day, where school spirit was on full display.

Check it out.

[swiping sound] [cool jazz music] (Sidney McGhee) It gives me a place to be when I have nowhere else to go, and it keeps me busy.

It made me a lot closer to all the people in the school, I'd say.

We have a competition every February.

There, a lot of the schools in Vegas will come out, and I'll come and shoot.

And usually the prizes are pretty big.

I mean, there was this, like, ruby colored bow one year.

(Isaiah Felix) Hey, what club are you in?

(Millie Chavez) This is the Bonanza Robotics Club.

-Why did you join this club?

I joined this club because I wanted, again, like a hands-on take on engineering and programming.

For me, it would definitely be our scholarship opportunities, and we also do, oftentimes, get invited to work with UNLV at certain workshops.

Well, right now we are prepping for our first competition, which is October 30 and which is very exciting, so we're building our robot to hopefully be able to compete.

(Yanira Rodriguez) Hello, everyone.

Welcome to the first ICC meeting.

If you don't know why you're here, this is a way to connect all the councils and, like, the sports and clubs so we have a better community and also more, more of a communication throughout the school.

Well, I gained a lot of different types of skills being in different clubs and things like that.

I tried Archery, and we did ROTC.

I also did Swim.

And so I tried those, and I found they weren't for me.

And so then I got more towards Student Council and Cheer and things like that.

And so I got-- that got me to where I am.

-I'm currently in Key Club, Stu.

Co., and Volleyball.

I do all these things so I could try to, like, build like a path for myself in the future, try to become more sociable.

Like in Key Club, we do, like, some charity work sometimes, and it helps out with, like, colleges and stuff like that.

(Brian Wiseman) I think it gives kids a sense of belonging.

It gives kids a reason to come to school and do well in class and be good citizens on campus.

-Thank you so much for sharing.

What fun programs!

Well, after school activities definitely help keep students engaged and wanting to come to school, and so does having the proper clothes.

When students worry about what to wear or not having shoes or pants that fit, they can't focus on what's happening in the classroom.

The nonprofit Assistance League of Las Vegas is working to change all of that through its signature community program Operation School Bell.

♪♪♪ (Carole Greene) So they come off the bus, and we check them in to make sure that we have their paperwork that the school has sent through our online system.

And then we have them go into our what we call the monitoring room, where we have a member in there that just kind of directs them.

-Okay.

Who's Victoria?

You are?

Are you ready to shop?

All right, let's go.

(Dawn Blinder) I've known about Operation School Bell for a long time.

And we're a community school.

We know our families, and it's a team decision to really find out which families are in the most need or could use that extra help.

-All right.

I'm gonna have you-- Do they feel like they fit?

-Operation School Bell is run by Assistance League of Las Vegas, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization.

-Okay.

So we're gonna put your bag over here.

I hope you had fun and you like your new things.

Who's Keith?

-Me.

-You?

(students) Bye Keith!

-Coming here today, kids get to pick out their own clothes.

They're gonna pick out their style, their colors that they like.

I think it builds on their self-esteem and self-confidence.

-Okay, that's two.

Do you want crayons?

-They were excited.

They were excited before they came, and I think they didn't know what to expect.

(Keith) It was very nerve wracking.

Let's just say that.

And it was very exciting as well, because, like, I was waiting for it.

Thank you for having me here.

I'm very grateful.

-See, I think that will be better.

-Operation School Bell has served CCSD students since 1978.

Assistance League Member Volunteer Deborah Gandy was once one of those students.

It was a sudden tragedy that led to Deborah's family desperately needing help.

(Deborah Gandy) When I was in 1st grade, right before Christmas, we went to go visit Santa Claus at one of the department stores, and by the time we came back, our house was engulfed in flames and everything was ruined in the house.

When I went back to school, my counselor actually took me shopping for new clothes at Operation School Bell.

And I remember going, and I remember the racks of clothing, color coordinated, and I got to shop and pick out new clothing.

I remember picking out a new backpack.

-Deborah's shopping experience at Operation School Bell made a significant and positive impact on her life.

And today she offers CCSD students in need this message of hope.

-That this is all just temporary, your situation.

You get to make your own future.

Go to school, get your good grades, work hard, hustle, you know, and then some day you could be sitting here, giving back to your community too.

-Well, requests for Operation School Bell services must be made through CCSD schools.

To learn more about the process, visit Assistance League of Las Vegas' website, allv.org.

Now let's go back to Mountain View Elementary School for our second "News Break."

-Hi, I'm Liliana.

-And I'm Kalid from Mountain View Elementary School, and we are back with another "News Break."

-This "News Break" is all about our school.

-Our school is "Home of the Mustangs, where learning has no limits."

Our core values are be kind, seek first to understand, appreciate differences, and celebrate small wins.

-Here at Mountain View, we have something called the Mustang News.

It's the one-stop source for all the amazing things happening at our school.

-We have segments like "Motivational Monday," "Try Not to Laugh Tuesday," "What Do You Know Wednesday," "Talent Show Thursday," and, of course, "Friday Faves," where we shout-out our amazing staff and students.

-If you haven't heard, we have some of the best students and staff around the valley.

-I agree that our teachers are one of a kind and the heart of Mountain View.

-Thanks for learning more about our school and how the Mustangs ride.

-And now we'll send it back to you, Maria.

-Thank you so much, Liliana and Kalid.

Great job!

And what an awesome school.

And speaking of awesome schools, I'm hanging out here with Miss Hernandez at Fremont Academy.

Go Lancers!

Near and dear to my heart.

I attended many, many moons ago.

It's changed since I've been here.

Now you're a magnet school.

(Jazlique Hernandez) We are.

And hopefully it doesn't look too different.

-It looks different.

-We have a new building, but it's still Fremont true to its heart.

-I agree.

-However, now we have that really cool magnet program, which we focus on medical sciences here now.

-And let's talk about that.

When I walked in, I can tell you, I was beaming with pride to see these students wearing their blue scrubs.

That's pretty special.

And you guys are the only ones doing this program here in Clark County.

-Yes.

So Fremont, with our Medical Science program, we're the only school, middle school that is only focused in the medical sciences.

So all the other magnet schools, they have a couple different programs, but our kids, if they want to be a medical professional, they come here.

-Earlier, we showed you a little bit about some of the classes that you have here.

You're incorporating artificial intelligence, AI, keeping up with the times.

What else do you have going on at Fremont Academy?

-There's always so much going on here.

We keep it busy.

But some other really cool stuff we have going on is we have our medical career labs where students get to explore about 8 to 10 different medical careers and do a really cool lab, like optometrist, and then get to create lenses.

We also have a really awesome brand new CrossFit room where our students get to get their workout on, especially after lunch, because, you know, lunch, you know, we gotta get that workout on.

-So you have a lot going on.

-Thank you so much, Miss Hernandez.

I feel that you're so passionate about being here and being with these students.

And there's a connection, your dad attended many years ago, too, right?

-He did.

I full circled.

He's very proud.

-Oh, I love that.

Thank you for what you do.

And if you are interested in attending a magnet school, applications are now open.

All the information is right there on your screen.

Go Lancers!

-A new PBS documentary series shines the spotlight on a national high school civics competition called We the People.

The series Citizen Nation followed students over 10 months from eight different states, like Nevada.

Billed as a coming of age story, the PBS docuseries, Citizen Nation shadows high school students from across the nation, including students at Southwest Career and Technical Academy.

(Joseph Juliano) So it was exciting.

-Southwest CTA Teacher and We the People Advisor Joseph Juliano.

-Well, the biggest thing that We the People does for students is empower them and give them confidence to actually, you know, speak their voice.

-Mr. Juliano's We the People class from last school year is among the teams featured in the four-part program.

(Elizabeth Fakoya) When people ask me what We the People is, I say it's a constitutional competition.

-A team that includes Elizabeth Fakoya, now a freshman at UNLV-- -We did have camera crews following us.

I remember my very first interaction with them.

I was so nervous.

I wore a suit that day.

- --and Ethan Bull-- (Ethan Bull) And that was one of the best experiences of my life.

- --who we caught up with as he packed to leave for Fordham University in New York City.

-It was a lot of work at times, having to constantly be filmed and be observed, but I really, I really enjoyed being behind the camera and being able to share what I was thinking at the moment to an audience of people in the future.

-The series captures students as they rise through regional and state We the People competitions and test their knowledge about the U.S. Constitution.

In the process, they explore what it means to be an American citizen-- -You're really going to learn perspective, because not a single person in that room had the exact same opinion.

I want to do better.

I want America to do better.

I want the world to be better for the sake of the people after me.

- --and their role in our nation's democracy.

-The people you're going to see in the film are just like the rest of the audience.

We're each trying to do our own thing.

We're trying to succeed at this competition, and we're all working hard to get there.

-I'm just really grateful for the opportunity for the country to see, not only my team, but all of these amazing We the People students and teachers across the country.

I'm just really grateful that that's something that's being platformed out there.

-As to who won the national competition, you will need to tune in to find out.

Citizen Nation is airing now Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Vegas PBS.

And if you missed an episode, stream anytime on the PBS app.

Here's another local tie, the Emmy award-winning filmmaker of Citizen Nation was raised right here in Las Vegas, and he attended Clark High School.

That's right, he is a CCSD graduate.

Just love that.

Well done to everyone featured in this incredible series.

Well, the City of North Las Vegas proclaims September 24, 2024, as Ruby Duncan Day.

It was on that day, the red carpet was rolled out at Ruby Duncan Elementary School for its school namesake.

The beloved activist was surprised with a special event in her honor, and several students helped make the day even more special.

[students singing "We Shall Overcome"] (Jada Mitchell) I was singing on the stage for Ruby Duncan.

[singing] (Brynlee) I sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and "We Shall Overcome."

[singing] -Miss Ruby Duncan watched with so much pride as she was serenaded by her talented students.

(Ruby Duncan) I sung with them and wanting to cry.

-We Love you, Mama!

-Mama Duncan was surrounded by her children, friends, school administrators, teachers, and community leaders, all there to celebrate an icon on her special day.

-To my mom, there's nobody like you, nobody at all.

You are spectacular.

-Celebrating this great day here with all of you and the children and the teachers and the principal... -At 92 years young, Miss Duncan is still making a difference.

Her special day just so happened to fall on National Voter Registration Day.

So...there was another surprise in store, and she was wearing it.

-Once my daughter brought-- when Sandra brought them out, I said, Wow, that's kind of cute.

-And the back, what does it say?

-Oh, God.

Well, I have to-- [indistinct] -Oh, my God, it says vote.

My message to the students is to keep working hard.

I love you, because you're going to take the name of Ruby Duncan Elementary School all the way to the White House.

That's what I'm looking for.

I want them to learn how to vote.

Just the idea of talking to kids that's in kindergarten about voting, that's exciting.

-That excitement will continue throughout the school year, as Miss Duncan plans to spend more time in the classroom, visiting with her beloved students.

-I love being with those babies.

They're all mine.

That's the way I feel.

If I could just put my arms around them and just grab them all and just-- -And the feeling is mutual.

-I just want to tell you I love you so much, and I wish I could give you a big hug.

-Ruby Duncan Day!

-I can tell you it was an absolute honor to be at that special ceremony.

Well, some students also contributed to a Q&A video where we learned more about the incredible life and legacy of Miss Ruby Duncan.

She is just an amazing woman.

She's even featured in a documentary.

You can watch that full video on the Student Spotlight page of the Vegas PBS website.

Well, before we leave you, listen up all you talented music students.

We have a challenge just for you.

Join our Vegas PBS Latin Jazz Jam Session!

Check it out.

[jazz music] -My name is Joe Torres, "The Godfather of Latin Jazz."

I performed with Celia Cruz, Perez Prado, Nat King Cole, Dizzy Gillespie.

I'm hanging out with the Las Vegas Academy jazz band, and we're having a jam session.

Check out the new documentary "Mambo Legends: The Music Never Ends."

-With the Mambo Legends, we're trying to keep that music that we all love around.

-Join my jam session with my song "Soulcha."

♪♪♪ So I have a challenge for you young musicians: Let's hear your Mambo, your Latin jazz, your salsa.

We just want to make sure that the music never ends.

-How cool is that?

And next month on Student Spotlight, we will have a special segment with "The Godfather of Latin Jazz," Mr. Joe Torres.

He is 92 years old.

He had his own jam session with the incredible Las Vegas Academy jazz band, and I can tell you that watching these talented young musicians sight-read and perform one of Mr. Torres' song in front of him was pretty spectacular.

Don't miss that.

That does it for this edition of Student Spotlight.

A big, heartfelt thank you to the wonderful staff and students here at Fremont Academy.

A reminder that you can watch this episode and past episodes on the Student Spotlight page of vegaspbs.org.

And if you know of a student, staff member, or school program that deserves the spotlight, please send us an email at studentspotlight@ vegaspbs.org.

We would love to hear from you.

Thank you so much for watching, and we will see you next month.