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

-Coming up on Student Spotlight, talk about hands-on learning.

Recent CCSD graduates are helping build a Major League Baseball stadium.

Learn about the career connections happening at the Las Vegas A's ballpark now under construction.

(Kathryn Egbert) Bengal for life.

(Maria Silva) Then, why so many Bonanza Bengals return to their alma mater as educators.

Plus, the Court County School District celebrates its 70th anniversary.

Meet the volunteers keeping history alive.

And, hope and help for CCSD students.

How the nonprofit Project 150 and its Betty's Boutique helps high schoolers with clothing, food, and so much more.

Student Spotlight starts right now.

[swiping sound] -Welcome to Student Spotlight.

I'm your host, Maria Silva, and we are here at Bonanza High School, where students and staff are celebrating, listen to this, 50 years of Bengal pride.

Bonanza offers students an incredible array of academic programs, along with athletics, music, theater.

I can just go on and on.

We'll learn more about the awesome culture that makes this school feel, well, more like a family.

That's coming up later on the show.

But first, a focus on dual enrollment.

It's an opportunity offered here at Bonanza and at other high schools across the district.

So how does it work?

Well, let's head to Rancho High School to see how students can earn high school and college credits at the same time.

(Denise Tampke) The kids are ready for it.

-Inside Ms.

Tampke's dual enrollment English class... -You will never open that door, even a crack, to allow yourself to get to that path.

Now figure out how to say it.

-Students are getting a head start on college without leaving high school.

-English 101 is a writing course.

That is what they do, they learn how to write.

-Here, students take college-level English 101 and 102 while earning high school and college credit.

(Ethan Rose) It's a great program.

-Senior Ethan Rose says dual enrollment courses can save students like him both time and money.

-I think it's a mixture of all of those things: saving money, time, and just overall helping you progress faster.

-Students pay about $125 per class, but it's a fraction of the cost of a typical college course.

And before stepping foot on campus, they have some of the required credits completed.

(Britney Resendiz) It gives us an extra advantage of knowing that we are able to go by with our freshman year much more easier and have our credits already done.

-For senior Brittany Resendiz, dual enrollment gives her an advantage her parents did not have.

-My parents, they actually they weren't able to graduate, not even 6th grade.

So they never really had that experience of high school and college, so having that first step into both high school and college together is a great opportunity for me to know that I'm successful in so many other things.

-Besides earning credits, students also learn about college workloads and expectations.

-Every essay, they start learning something new, and we build on it.

And then when we move into 102, that is a semester-long research paper, and the kids will leave here writing 30 to 40 pages.

-All while getting direct feedback and working one-on-one with their teacher.

-Nothing can take the place of having someone sit down next to you.

-That support builds confidence and belief in themselves.

-It's a little-- it's a little hard, but it gives us a nice push into knowing what is going to be needed in our college life.

-One college credit at a time.

-But we have kids that are so terrified of college.

And so, if we can get college credits behind them, if we can show them that not only can you do this but you can excel at it, it takes that fear away.

-What a great opportunity.

Now these dual enrollment programs and courses are taken through the Nevada System of Higher Education.

In fact, the CCSD School Board of Trustees just approved a handful of additional courses, including Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Sounds cool.

All right.

Well, from college to career.

Some recent CCSD graduates are getting a Major League opportunity in construction thanks to a program run by the Western States Carpenters Union.

(Anthony Acevedo) I went to East Career & Technical Academy.

And right there, I did Construction program, my CTE.

I always liked building things.

When I was in school, I took Furniture and Cabinet Making, and I like building stuff.

(Samuel Osorio) So what I took was Construction.

There, they just taught us a lot of our basic skills that we would have to eventually lead into what we do now, such as handling, like, hammers, any basic tools that we use, power tools like miter saws, skill saws, anything like that.

(Steven Dudley) Right now what we're promoting out here is our Career Connections program.

We're in 14 high schools right now with Clark County School District with our full Construction program, where we print the books, we help them find retired carpenters to teach the classes, and these young people that go through this Career Connections program, they get direct access to the Carpenters Union, no questions asked.

So they're coming out here already having some great skills that are setting them apart from any Uber driver or anybody that just walks off the street trying to find a new career here.

-I think CTE is a big help for anyone that wants to get into the trade.

-In the end, I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed my teacher.

He taught me a lot about safety and how this is a career that I can take if maybe college isn't what I'm looking into.

It was a career that I look forward to.

-On average, the young people that are coming through the Career Connections program, head and shoulders above everyone else.

We've gotten great reviews from our contractor saying this is going to be my next foreman, my next superintendent, guys and gals coming in from Clark County School District, 17 and 18 years old, hitting these job sites.

-CTE classes, they give you an advantage in so many ways, such as maybe reading plans.

That's one thing we did in my school.

That can be something that my company or even other companies look at, you know, hey, the student had a previous experience in reading plans and maybe we could teach them further to being a foreman, anything like that.

That little advantage can put you ahead of so many other students that the apprenticeship will look at.

-With the carpenters, we have 33 different trainable crafts.

Our carpenters are going to be doing the metal panel and roof structure on this job, toilet accessories, toilet partitions, flooring, framing, drywall, all the finish work.

Sky's the limit, really, with the Carpenters Union in Las Vegas.

-I'm a framer, and I do-- we do shaft walls, elevator walls, interior walls.

We hang drywall, hang core board, everything.

-This is a great way for a young person to get in there and work with their hands and earn a very good wage right in their backyard.

No reason to leave Las Vegas.

You can graduate, come right to work on great projects like the A's Stadium.

-I'm meeting people that are two times, three times my age, and I'm still having so many connections with them.

And when we're on the job site, we look at each other as a family.

-I don't think being in the Carpenters Union is just a job.

I think it's a career.

You can make a living out of this.

You just have to be on your stuff, pay attention, work hard, and you're gonna make it.

-We're very proud with what CCSD is doing to help get us that next generation of carpenter through their CTE programs.

-Fabulous job!

And what a great partnership.

Nearly 50 CCSD students have joined the Carpenters Union over the past four years through this very program.

Another 20 students are expected to join out of this year's senior class.

All right.

Now let's head to Hickey Elementary School for our very first "News Break."

-Hi.

I'm Laken, and I'm a 5th grader from Hickey Elementary School.

-And I'm Eileen.

I'm in the 5th grade, too.

We're a part of Hickey Husky's Morning News team.

-And we're here with your first "News Break."

-Congratulations to Nevada's Teacher of the Year.

-Valley High School teacher Brooke Wheatley was named the 2027 Nevada State Teacher of the Year by the Nevada Department of Education.

It happened during a surprise event at the school.

Ms.

Wheatley teaches Social Studies and goes above and beyond for her students.

Congratulations!

What an honor!

-This month we celebrate National School Lunch Week.

This year's theme is Cafeteria Circus: Where nutrition takes center stage.

Did you know that CCSD serves more than 242,000 meals every single day?

You can check what's on the menu at your school by going to this website: menu.ccsd.net.

-We'll have more news later in the show.

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

-Thank you so much, and I can tell you it was so wonderful to meet you both.

Great job!

So talented.

Well, the Clark County School District is marking a big milestone: 70 years.

A celebration was recently held here at Bonanza High School, featuring student performers, culinary delights, and artifacts from throughout the years.

School namesakes, staff, trustees, and former administrators, including past superintendents, came out to the big celebration and to celebrate this anniversary.

CCSD was officially established in September of 1956.

(Jhone Ebert) This is an exciting night.

We actually have an educator here who is 101 years old.

She taught at Las Vegas High School before it was a school.

And so it's about community.

It's about bringing people together to celebrate all the amazing things that have happened.

We started with 20,000 students.

Now are at 270,000 students.

So it's a wonderful time to lift up our community and recognize our history.

-Some of the vintage items and artifacts displayed at this milestone celebration were curated by the CCSD Archives Committee.

The Archive Committee has been around for 20 years and is made up of wonderful volunteers on a mission to make sure CCSD's history is preserved and well documented.

I stopped by CCSD Archives, and I can tell you it was a blast from the past.

It's a Clark County School District building with a history of its own.

(Joyce O'Day) In 2022, they came to this building that we like to call "The Little House."

And it was built by Vo-Tech students in the 1990s.

-The Little House just so happens to house CCSD Archives.

-The collection began in 2006 when Dr.

Kay Carl put together a team to record the history for the 50th anniversary of the school district.

-Here you will find a small but mighty group of volunteers... -This was written by the Archive Committee.

-...working hard to document and preserve CCSD's storied past.

-This is from 1978.

-Meet Joyce O'Day; her husband, Daniel; and fellow volunteer Nancy Schkurman.

(Nancy Schkurman) I love the Archive Committee.

I've been on it for about 18 years now.

Part of the reason I spend so much time on it is that I love the other people here.

-Each with their own special history at CCSD.

(Daniel O'Day) I was born and raised here, went to school here, graduated from Western.

-Both Nancy and Joyce, retired CCSD educators.

-Dr.

Carl asked me to write a book just on the elementary music program.

-We've got photos and negatives and slides that need to be archived and documented.

We don't even know all the stuff we have, and so it's going to take a while to get everything in order.

-They are actively looking for new volunteers.

-We have so many photos that are unidentified.

We don't know who they are.

-They're also looking for more historical donations.

-We'd love yearbooks, past and present.

We'd love anything that's archival, anything that seems antique or vintage.

-While they will happily take your vintage school T-shirts, there are the items they can't accept.

-We're limited on space, so trophies would be too big, anything too large.

-And, yes, CCSD Archives is open to the public.

-One of my favorite calls was from someone looking for the recipe for peanut butter cookies from the 1970s, and we actually had the recipe book from the school district.

-Spend just a few minutes inside The Little House, and you will definitely feel CCSD pride.

-This one is from North Ninth Street School from March 1956.

So this was the year that it became the Clark County School District.

-CCSD archives exist, in part, thanks to these caring volunteers.

-We just need more in-depth history in our district to appreciate the 70 years we've had, because this school district is very unique in the country.

-Their hope, to leave behind a beautiful gift... -You just never know what you're going to find in here.

-Every day is like Christmas here.

-...for future generations.

-Schools go away; they just throw it in the trash.

Nobody will ever see it because it's gone.

So we keep it in here, what we can.

Right now, we're just trying to get it all organized.

And when somebody calls us and needs something, we can find it, we have it.

-It's a labor of love, and it's for the future.

-Well, some of the items inside The Little House date back to the early 1900s, even before the Clark County School District was officially established.

Today, nearly 20 volunteers make up the CCSD Archive Committee.

But as we showed you, there is still a lot of work to be done.

They especially need help digitizing images so they can put them up on their website, and maybe, just maybe, someone can help identify the people in those photos.

For more information on how you can volunteer, have items to donate, or just want to stop by, head to ccsdarchives.org.

And, hey, students, listen up!

This could be a great community service opportunity.

Sometimes history is in the people.

About a dozen or so staff members here at Bonanza loved their high school experience so much, they came back to work here.

-Everybody seems to find their way back here.

-They were once students at Bonanza High School.

-I graduated from Bonanza in 2019, the last year before COVID.

-2013.

-I graduated in 2005.

-1996.

-2008.

-Now alumni, like English and dual enrollment teacher Alisia Torrey are back.

(Alisia Torrey) This has been where I wanted to come, and I didn't want to leave.

I'm never leaving Bonanza.

-This time, as staff.

-Yes, there is a lot of us.

And I'd say about 5 to 10% of the staff, all staff, actually, went to Bonanza and found their way back here, which to me it kind of screams there was some type of community that we had built and are continuing to build.

(Nicolas Risucci) Yes.

I remember when I first came back here, all the memories came back.

-Once a student athlete at Bonanza High School, today Nicolas Risucci teaches Health.

And as you can see... -It's '70s Spirit Day, and we have Homecoming this week.

-...Mr.

Risucci still enjoys school dress-up days and events.

But his favorite part?

-Students, for sure.

Even days like today, the reaction on their face, building those relationships.

I was in their same footsteps; I know kind of what they're going through.

Bonanza has a very special type of student, and that's what I kind of gravitated back towards.

(Kathryn Egbert) I teach General Resource Math, so high school math from algebra all the way up to personal finance.

-Former Bonanza student Kathryn Egbert is now a math teacher.

She has a sister who attends Bonanza and a brother who just graduated.

-Education is really important.

Especially being in this school district and a product of the school district, it's just kind of nice to know that they have an adult they can trust in the building.

-The family connection is also there for Bonanza theater teacher Stephen Norton.

(Steven Norton) Yeah, so here at Bonanza, there are four Nortons here at the moment: myself; my mom also teaches here, she's a learning strategist; my brother Kyle Norton is the SBT here on campus; and then my sister Jessica Larson is actually my theater aide.

It's fun being able to work with family, being able to work closely together.

-And he says there is no place else he would rather be.

-Oh, 100% I see myself in the students.

I mean, especially the students that are just die-hard theater fans and they just love either the acting or the tech side of it.

It's like that was me 20-plus years ago doing the same thing.

My thing in high school was the tech side of it.

-For Acting Principal Lisa Hungerford... (Lisa Hunderford) I had a lot of great memories at Bonanza, specifically with a few staff members and how they connected with me, and I wanted to be able to do the same with our students.

-Being back at Bonanza is like coming full circle.

-We are 50 years old in this building, and I think our traditions are about the same age.

There are things that go on at Bonanza that have been going on for decades.

And it's just that feel-good scene that just, you're home.

It really is home here.

-I love the culture here.

And speaking of feeling like home, Bonanza has a Homecoming tradition that you have to see to believe.

Check it out.

Every year, students go all out when it comes to decorating the school's hallways for Homecoming.

This year's theme recognized Bonanza's 50th anniversary.

The theme: Dancing through the Decades.

(Jude Aragon) So freshmen have the '50s, sophomores have the '70s, the juniors have the '80s, and the seniors have the 2000s.

Yeah.

And we worked throughout the summer, and we make decorations.

We stay after school to Mod Podge and paint everything.

It's a lot of work, but I think it's a huge payoff at the end.

(Isabel Perez) So we start hallways before school even starts.

We come in about two weeks before school starts, and we're here from like 8 a.m.

to about noon every day.

I'm proud of how our students went out of their way to really incorporate the history of Bonanza in itself.

We're pretty well known for it.

Yes, this is a tradition.

We've done it for a really long time.

(Kensie Egbert) We make them really big, and we make them really detailed.

Like, we try to make this as, I want to say, interactive.

But that's probably not the right word.

But as eye-catching as possible.

-How cool is that?

What a fun tradition!

And joining me now is Acting Principal Lisa Hungerford.

-Hi.

-Thanks for joining us, and thanks for opening up your door to your wonderful school.

As we learned earlier, you attended the school.

What can you tell me about decorating the halls?

-That is a long-time tradition at Bonanza High School.

I remember being very excited.

We would go home for the weekend and come back, and it was like magical fairies made this place into something amazing.

-Oh, and you do have an amazing school.

Let's talk about some of the programs you offer your students.

-We currently have quite a few CTEs and electives to bring students into our school.

We have a Criminal Justice Forensic Science class.

We have a great Construction class that pushes quite a few kids straight into working jobs with the union.

And of course we have Fire Science.

-And that's exciting.

Tell me real quick about that Fire Science program.

-Fire Science is an incredible program.

They do an amazing job teaching our students what it takes to be the next group of graduating firefighters.

-And let's say one of the students watching this, or several of the students watching this, say, I want to attend that cool school.

Because of open enrollment, they're welcome to join you.

-Anybody is welcome here, and we also offer a variety of electives to spark the interest of all students.

-What else do you want people to know about Bonanza High School?

-It's a welcoming place.

We open the doors for all students.

We love to have you here, and it's just a fun atmosphere to be a part of.

-And as we said, celebrating 50 years.

So much history, and I love all the photos around and that mural.

-Thank you.

-Thank you so much.

All right.

We're gonna send it back to Hickey Elementary School for the second "News Break."

-Hi.

I'm Haciel, and I'm in 4th grade in Hickey Elementary School.

-And I'm Ariel.

I'm in the 4th grade, too, and we're back with the second "News Break."

-Hispanic Heritage Month is from September 15 to October 15.

It is a time to celebrate the history, diverse cultures, and achievements and contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities.

Did you know that more than 20% of the total U.S.

population is Hispanic?

And that's more than 70 million people!

-Our school is named after the first Hispanic woman elected to the State Board of Education.

Mrs.

Hickey was born in Cuba but moved to the United States in 1960.

She was very involved in many community issues, and she was one of the original members of the Latin Chamber of Commerce.

We are proud to have our school named after such an amazing woman.

-Thanks for visiting our school.

-Now back to Maria.

-Thank you both so much.

And I can't say it enough: You are all so talented.

And I am honored to say that I got the chance to meet Mrs.

Hickey when she was with us.

Phenomenal woman who did so much for our students and our community.

No doubt her legacy lives on through all of these wonderful students.

Well, here on our show, we also want to shine the spotlight on our community partners helping our CCSD students.

Project 150's mission is to offer free support and services to homeless, displaced, and disadvantaged high school students year-round.

Among its many services, a cool place called Betty's Boutique.

Check it out.

-Welcome to Betty's Boutique.

-Betty's Boutique is a safe space where all high school students--regardless of their financial situation at home--can just be teens, go on a free shopping spree, and select new and gently used items.

-We're not asking about where they live or how much money their parents make.

We just want them to come in.

-Project 150 Programs Manager Joy Thompson explains that there is just one requirement.

-The only thing that's required is that they are currently enrolled in a high school here in Nevada.

And the way that we verify that is we have them log into their Infinite Campus portal.

And the great thing about Betty's Boutique as well is that students can shop every 30 days, so it's not just a one-and-done resource.

You can continue to shop with us all year round, so we're here for you whether school is in session or out of session.

-The team at Betty's Boutique works hard to keep their display floor stocked with the latest fashion trends.

-So we have volunteers who sort through donations to make sure that everything is teenager appropriate and things that teenagers would want.

And also, too, it gives a different experience.

So instead of, like, going through a thrift store experience, everything is handpicked and curated just for high school students.

-So our volunteers are the heart of what we do.

-Volunteers like Desiree Austin, a former CCSD student herself.

-It honestly is very rewarding.

I feel like I'm doing something good, and it warms my heart.

And then seeing them, you know, find a shirt or pair of shoes or jewelry, you know, or get the toiletries they need, like toothpaste and soap.

And I'm a mother myself, and I've been a high school student here on the more underprivileged side, so I understand, like, you know, the importance and the the relief they must feel from shopping and getting these items for free.

-Inside Betty's Boutique, you'll find more than just clothing, shoes, accessories, and hygiene products.

You can also grab a few school supplies and even non-perishable food items.

-Groceries.

They can come shop for groceries once a week.

And then we also have quantities, so, you know, two soups, a loaf of bread, one box of cereal.

And then so that way if they get everything on the list, then it feeds a family of four.

-The end goal: to make sure students don't have to worry about food or what they are wearing and can focus their attention on their studies.

-I would say for students just to come in and see what it's like, experience what we have to offer, because everything that we have here for students is given to you by the community.

So the community wants you to succeed.

They want you to be able to get through high school, because high school is tough enough.

So the community has your back, we have your back to make sure that you have everything that you'll need to be successful.

-Thank you all so much for what you do for our students.

There are two Betty's Boutique locations in Southern Nevada, and they even have one up North in Reno.

For more information, head to project150.org.

Well, that does it for this episode of Student Spotlight.

A huge thank-you to Bonanza High School for hosting us.

We love learning more about your amazing school.

And don't forget that you can watch this episode and past episodes of Student Spotlight on the Vegas PBS website or YouTube page.

We will see you next month.

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