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

-Coming up on Student Spotlight, tag along with CCSC school police as they patrol valley school zones, plus... learning Ballet Folklorico.

How these students are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.

Then meet the 2026 Nevada State Teacher of the Year.

She is amazing!

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

[swiping sound] Thank you so much for joining us.

I'm your host, Maria Silva.

Check this out.

I am at the Clark County School District Central Kitchen.

That's because National School Lunch Week is this month.

The school district serves about 244,000 meals a day, including breakfast.

Last school year alone, listen to this, CCSD served nearly 41 million meals.

Now, we wanted to know more about how CCSD Food Service feeds so many students, so we enlisted the help of some student reporters at Brown Academy of International Studies.

Here is an exclusive look behind the scenes of their middle school kitchen.

Check it out.

-Good morning, Vegas PBS!

-My name is Lucy.

-My name is Malachi.

-And my name is Kennedy.

-We're all 7th grade students.

-We are broadcasting from IBTV at Brown Academy of International Studies.

-Today we are featuring a middle school lunch for National Lunch Week.

(Timothy Ortiz) Welcome to the kitchen.

-After morning announcements... -Come on in.

-...Lucy, Kennedy, and Malachi are off to tour their school's kitchen, where all the food magic happens.

-So when we come in, we're always going to put an apron on, put a hair net on.

What an apron is, we protect our clothes from the food.

We're gonna grab this around our neck.

Strings go around your body.

And just tie it like you're tying a shoe.

So our main concern is always wash your hands when we come in the kitchen.

So in kitchens, we have walk-ins.

They call it a walk-in because you can open the door and physically walk inside.

So this is our freezer.

We store our product from the warehouse inside of here.

This way, we'll see our pans--our sheet pans, our hotel pans--we use for cooking.

This is our reach-in.

A reach-in because you open the door and you reach in to grab your product.

We have a warmer so when we have food that needs to be held at proper temperatures that are hot, we're keeping them warmer.

We have our main prep area.

So we do all our main prepping, portioning.

Our back ovens.

So we use the three-compartment sink method.

So three compartment sink, our first step is wash, rinse, sanitize, air dry.

Store room storage.

This is our dry goods.

And then when we serve you on trays, if we need more trays, we have storage back here, our grab-n-go containers.

-And of course, these talented student reporters had some questions for the kitchen crew.

-What are some of the most popular foods that students love?

(Anne Day) Cheesy breadsticks, pizza, chicken nuggets or chicken tenders, probably, and orange chicken.

-Do you get feedback from students, and how do you collect it?

-We probably, if we have a new item, we'll go out there and walk around and ask the students how they like it, and then they'll give us our feedback.

-Are there any sustainable, eco-friendly practices that you have to maintain here at the cafeteria?

-We try to recycle, and then we have products like our trays is recyclable material.

And we're trying to cut back on the usage of our trays, so we offer packaged items so that kids come through, grab their entrees.

It's less of any footprint that we put on the earth.

-How do you make everything run smoothly in the kitchen by working with your partners?

-Teamwork.

Everyone, we can all work behind each other or with each other very closely, and we know how to pick up sometimes behind the next person.

-How do you create a positive environment for students to enjoy lunch?

-Well, we try to make sure that the food is presentable, try to always smile for the children, and we're just there for them at all times, helping out.

-And then it's time to eat.

After learning all about what happens in their school's kitchen, these student reporters, along with their classmates, can enjoy their meal.

-All right.

Table 3.

Table 3, go enjoy your lunch.

Table 3.

♪♪ -Thank you to our talented student reporters for helping us out on this story.

Fun fact: My very first job was at the Fremont Middle School cafeteria.

Beautiful memories.

And later in the show, we'll learn a lot more about what happens here in Central Kitchen, including we'll talk about those yummy cinnamon rolls.

Love those!

Well, from cafeterias to crosswalks, school zone safety is a top concern for the school district and, of course, the community.

We hit the streets with CCSD Police who work every day to help keep students safe.

[swiping sound] When the sun comes up over schools like Spring Valley High School, it marks one of the busiest times of day for the Clark County School District Police Traffic Bureau.

-I'm giving you a warning on the U-turn.

-Sergeant Valdez and fellow officers see no shortage of drivers ignoring the rules in school zones.

-Pull over to the right.

Yes, ma'am.

[siren] -And it's not just happening at high schools.

[traffic] Here at MJ Christensen Elementary School, the morning rush brings the same types of problems.

-You just moved to Vegas?

(Lt.

Campbell) Generally, it's 30 minutes of chaos in the morning, 30 minutes of chaos after school at every single location.

-CCSD Police Lieutenant Michael Campbell.

-If we could just slow down and treat everybody in the school zone like they're our own family, they're our own child.

-Afternoon pickup adds other challenges--illegal parking and blocked crosswalks.

-What happens when they get too close to the crosswalks or the driveways is that people can't see shorter people or students or kids trying to get into those crosswalks, and that's when kids are getting hit.

-No matter the time of day, when lights are flashing in a school zone, it means student safety comes first.

-15 mile an hour.

-And while officers can't be everywhere... -How fast do you think you were going?

-...their presence does make a difference... -Just being here, sitting down on the end of the roadway or patrolling, will curb a lot of those negative behaviors that we see that cause injury.

-...one school zone at a time.

-But we're trying our best to be everywhere we can, to be as proactive as we can so we can get our kids to and from school uninjured.

-Thank you.

Drive safe.

-A big thank-you to the CCSD School Police Traffic Bureau for letting us tag along with them.

So what are the rules of the road in Valley school zones?

U-turns are illegal in school zones.

Double parking and blocking crosswalks are prohibited.

Always obey the posted speed limit, and stop whenever you see a school bus with flashing red lights or its stop-arm is extended.

Now let's head to Cimarron-Memorial High School for our very first "News Break."

-Hi.

I'm Jazlynn from Cimarron-Memorial High School.

-And I'm Sophia, here with your first "News Break."

-District leaders announced some big news when it comes to school star ratings, and that included a big surprise at one elementary school.

-Quannah McCall is a four-star school!

[cheers] -The school's principal, along with Superintendent Jhone Ebert, helped surprise educators at Quannah McCall Elementary School with their new star rating.

McCall was one of 18 CCSD schools that improved by two or more stars on the Nevada School Performance Framework.

That's the state's public school rating system.

(Jhone Ebert) We saw improvement in mathematics, in English Language Arts, as well as chronic absenteeism.

-Congratulations to the students and staff at McCall Elementary School.

-And McCall wasn't the only school with big gains.

More than 135 CCSD schools made improvements on their overall star ratings.

In fact, these three schools improved by three stars from 2024 to 2025.

Nearly 50 schools received a five-star rating, which is the highest rating possible.

-When we come back, we'll tell you more about our school.

-But for now, we'll send it back to Maria.

-Thank you so much, Jazlynn and Sophia.

I can't wait to hear more about your school.

Well, the 2026 Nevada State Teacher of the Year has been named.

Can I get a drum roll, please?

[drum roll] It's fitting that I'm asking for a drum roll because she just so happens to be a music teacher.

Ali Jun is the music teacher to more than 900 students at Tyrone Thompson Elementary School, and it was her students who helped surprise her when the big announcement was made.

Mrs.

Jun has been with the district for nearly 20 years.

And I got the chance to stop by one of her music classes, and what I witnessed was, well, music to my ears.

(Ali Jun) When you conduct, you are in charge.

-From becoming mini conductors with glow sticks... -Up, down, in, out.

-...to reading rhythms with the Monsters, Inc.

theme.

-It sounds like this: [drum beat] So the kids today have to help me save myself from Randall, because I'm Boo, and they'll be reading rhythms and having to work together to figure out the correct rhythm to make the puzzle pieces to put Randall together.

-Mrs.

Jun's music lessons are always an adventure.

(Jermon Farmer) She always tries her best to make every music lesson fun, and it always ends up in a fun activity and us having a fun time.

-Now, conduct however you feel it!

I teach melody, harmony, playing instruments.

I run choirs, so a lot of vocal technique.

We have Boomwhackers.

-Wait.

A boom, what?

-Ooh, Boomwhackers are tuned percussion instruments that are really fun for the kids to play and experiment and improvise with.

It's great.

[Boomwhackers] -Spending just a few minutes inside Mrs.

Jun's fabulous music themed classroom... -Music is a universal language.

It's everywhere, and it's such a big world to explore.

-...it's easy to see why she was named the 2026 Nevada State Teacher of the Year.

-You know, she is the best teacher.

She deserves this.

(Mia) She cares about other people.

She makes learning fun.

-And this fun music teacher plans to continue inspiring future generations of musicians and music teachers for years to come.

-I want them to know that music and teachers and education is a safe place for them to be who they want to be, to figure out where they want to accomplish or what their goals are.

I think it's really important that students know how much their teachers really, really care about them and want them to succeed.

Guys, you're all reading music.

Like, not everybody can read music.

Give yourself a pat on the back.

Say "I'm a rock star!"

-I'm a rock star!

-Thank you for letting me join choir and teaching me how to play music.

-[scatting] Yeah!

That was beautiful, wasn't it?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

-I had so much fun.

Gotta love those Boomwhackers.

Big congratulations again to Mrs.

Jun.

So well deserved.

And congratulations are also in order to two other CCSC finalists, Scott Fieux, intermediate autism teacher at William R. Lummis Elementary School and Vasti Mejia, kindergarten teacher at Richard J. Rundle Elementary School.

Congratulations.

Well, no doubt we have some wonderful teachers in our school district who are making a difference inside and outside of the classroom.

To help kick off Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month, Karla Garcia-Cardenas received a proclamation from the Clark County Commission for her work as the founder of the nonprofit Nevada Latino Arts and Culture Association.

She received that honor in front of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.

During the day, by the way, Mrs.

Garcia is a Ballet Folklorico teacher with CCSD.

-Ready?

5-6-7-8.

Ready?

5-6-7-8.

Good, good.

In Miss Garcia's Ballet Folklorico program at Sunrise Mountain High School, talented dancers like Melanie Gurrola are mastering dances from different regions of Mexico.

(Melanie Gurrola) So far, I've learned, obviously, like, all the dances, all the steps, choreographies, but I've also taken, like, within myself to learn everything about the countries, like, hey, why is this vestuario like this?

Or why is this vestuario like that?

Because, honestly, it's all so different because it truly speaks about the people.

Like, what I'm wearing right now is from Colima.

-Ballet Folklorico, not just a beautiful tradition in Mexico... ♪♪ -So Ballet Folklorico is not only dancing.

It's also learning about what's behind the culture, the history, the traditions of not just Mexico, but many Latin American countries.

From a personal point of view, the proudest feel is that they're actually proud of where they come from.

They're proud of learning from other countries, because that actually helps break down stereotypes.

-...for multicultural students like Ayleen Pareja... -My mom is from Mexico, and specifically she's from Jalisco.

And then my dad is from Peru, specifically Lima.

-...and Eli Cruz.

-My mom's from California, where her parents are from El Salvador.

-This Ballet Folklorico program allows them the opportunity to honor the traditions of both parents.

-Just learning about where my dad is from, he's from Mexico, Mexico City, just I didn't know there was that many regions and how everything could be done so differently.

-This Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month... -We're going to add more to Colombia, add Ecuador.

What else?

-...students have been busy learning new dances... -El Salvador.

-...and busy performing those dances at community events.

-It actually means a lot to me.

I like, like the parade we just went to in Summerlin.

I got to see a bunch of different cultures being celebrated, not even just mine, but like Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, everything.

And it's, honestly, just like an honor to be able to represent my countries.

-The students also appreciate having wonderful teachers who are dedicated to this art form.

-Because I will give it to Miss Garcia that, like, I learn all these regions and I know all these dances and able to do so many things because of her, as well as Miss Aguilar, because, you know, she's also there helping a lot of the time... -5-6-7-8.

-...and I just want to give them, all in all, a really big thank-you for giving us the opportunity, because, like I said, not everybody gets the opportunity to do what I'm able to do.

-For students who might have reservations about auditioning and joining a Ballet Forklorio program like this one, some words of encouragement: -My first day in I didn't know what to do, and Miss Garcia, she kind of encouraged me to join the group.

She told me to try, and if I didn't like it, I could always back out.

But I fell in love with it.

Hey!

-Bravo!

These talented Ballet Forklorio dancers are in high demand.

They have also performed at events for the Las Vegas Raiders, Vegas Golden Knights, and the Aviators, just to name a few.

They have also participated and placed first in national competitions.

Congratulations.

So proud of you.

And speaking of big events, for many young Latinas turning 15 isn't just another birthday, it is a milestone marked by a very special celebration called a quinceanera.

These elaborate events are filled with tradition and meaning, but they can also be very expensive.

So when a Keller Middle School mariachi teacher learned one of her former students couldn't afford a quinceanera, she rallied the community to make a dream come true.

(Lupita Herrera-Lopez) I guess I've dreamed of this since I was a little girl.

-Las Vegas High School sophomore Lupita Herrera-Lopez is in love with her quinceanera dress--the color, the ruffles, and all of the little details that make the dress hers.

-Something special about my dress is like the galas for mariachi, they're like ornaments that are put on a mariachi suit.

-Mariachi is a big part of Lupita's life, and it's how this dress and her quinceanera came to be.

(Miriam Vazquez) The reason why we're here is because of a simple comment that turned into quite a big event.

-Miriam Vasquez is Lupita's former teacher, the mariachi director at Keller Middle School.

So when Lupita's mom mentioned her daughter's birthday was coming up... -And I say, oh, my God, already her quince.

What's the plan?

How can I help?

And she said, Actually, it's not going to be how we would have expected it to be, due to a car accident in which her car was totaled.

-Lupita's mom, Hilda... -Enter Brenda Karcz, owner of Zofia's Dress Shop.

(Brenda Karcz) I met Miriam through a client, and she brought up a student, student that was going to turn 15.

She said, student doesn't have a dress.

-Are you Lupita?

-Hilda, hi, I'm Brenda.

Nice to meet you.

-And that led to this special night in early September.

-They told me that I was just gonna come in and try on dresses, just for the experience.

-Thank you.

-I'm like, okay.

And then we're gonna take a couple pictures.

That's what my mom told me.

-Give me your hand.

Go ahead and step up.

Perfect.

She'd like to try this one on as well.

And it fits her head really nicely.

Your hand.

Thank you.

Let me move your train.

After trying on three dresses, came a big surprise.

-Zofia's is giving you a dress today.

-But that's not all.

-And then we have a lot of sponsors here that are going to make your quinceanera happen.

-Everything from photography to food to the venue, all donated... (Maria Verduzco) When she told us the story, we feel moved to help to do something for her.

-...so Lupita can celebrate her quinceanera.

-Just seeing her getting her wish come true, it was quite fulfilling.

-You are saying yes to the charro dress?

-I'm saying yes to the charro dress.

[cheers and applause] -Lupita changed back into the charro dress, her dress... -The second I put on this dress, I wanted it.

I knew this was the dress I wanted so badly, but I couldn't ask my mom for it, because I knew it would have cost too much money.

-...the first dress she tried on that night.

-I loved it, every moment of it.

-And at Lupita's final fitting, there's excitement, gratitude, and a range of emotions.

-It makes us feel good.

It's like a feeling that it's hard to express.

But to be able to help, it's a good feeling.

-This is the moment when I say it's worth it.

-I would like to say thank you so much for, like, supporting me and doing this for me.

I'm very, very grateful, and I'm just really happy.

-What an amazing community we have and a great example of karma.

Lupita's mom is very active in the schools and the community and is known for giving back herself.

Of course, we had to show you the big party.

Here are some photos from Lupita's quinceanera that happened just a few weeks ago.

Beautiful!

Muchisimas gracias, of course, to all of the business owners who helped Lupita and her mom.

And a very special thank-you to Ms.

Vasquez for caring about her students so much.

Now let's head back to Cimarron-Memorial High School for our second "News Break."

-Hi, I'm Christian from Cimarron High School, home of the Spartans.

-And I'm Hector.

And we're back with your second "News Break."

-We are a part of our school's Video Production program.

In this class, we learn of movie making techniques from camera operation to lightning and storytelling and set design.

-We also produce CMTV, our school's weekly announcements.

But these aren't your average school announcements.

Our fellow Spartans get a high-level dose of infotainment, funny skits and funny characters to help communicate the important happenings around school.

-Each year, we learn new skills that will help us after graduation.

In fact, last year, we won a second place finish at SkillsUSA state competition, a first-time achievement for Cimarron-Memorial.

Soon, we are going to start producing podcasts, and we are going to have training to fly a drone.

-Thanks for learning more about our school and our school's Video Production program.

-But for now, we will send it back to Maria.

-Thank you so much, Christian and Hector.

I love your infotainment.

So very creative and talented.

All right, guys.

As you can see, we moved locations because we are about to talk about my favorite cafeteria food item growing up, attending CCSD.

And just the smell brings back so many wonderful memories.

We're talking cinnamon rolls.

Look at those right there!

Cinnamon.

Come on in, Jake Yarberry, dietitian with CCSD Food Service Department.

-Hi.

-Talk about bringing out the inner child, let's talk about these cinnamon rolls.

Huge mixers here.

How many do you guys make a year?

-We make 2.4 million cinnamon rolls a year.

We've got like 33 bakers in here, and one great supervisor.

-Oh, my gosh.

And the smell and the fact that it's been around for so many decades just speaks volumes about this little treat right here.

All right, let's talk about some of the other food items, because you do have new items on your menu.

(Jake Yarberry) So we do.

Last year we featured tamales for Christmas.

Now we've got it on year-round.

We did have to teach the kids to take off the wrapping.

So the faux corn husk, we had to teach them how to take that off.

-That's what I was going to call you out on, but you let us know this isn't a traditional corn husk.

-It's not, no.

-It's okay.

I'm sure it's still delicious.

-It is as long as they don't bite into it.

-Exactly.

What else do we have here?

-So we also brought back the nachos.

A couple of years ago, we brought walking tacos to the menu, and then we decided to bring nachos back.

So one week we have nachos, one week we have walking tacos.

-And I do have to say, the theme for this year's National School Lunch Week is Taste the World: Your School Lunch Passport.

And this is a passport.

-It is, yeah.

So we've got our Asian food, we've got our Hispanic food, and then we've got our bakery food.

So I don't know what country bakery food comes from, but it's good.

-All over.

I need to put you on the spot.

What's your favorite food item?

-I would have to say the cinnamon roll, too.

Yeah, the cinnamon roll or I do like the orange chicken, too.

-All right.

Let's also talk about school meals.

You have breakfast, most important meal of the day.

-We do, yep.

It helps with student attendance.

It helps with concentration while they're at school.

And, like you said, healthiest meal they get all day, some students, you know?

-You have breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

-Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they're all free to see CCSD students.

-And that's so wonderful, important, right?

So they can just go and enjoy the three meals if they need to.

-They can.

They can get it.

They don't have to do any paperwork.

It's just available to them at no cost.

-How do you come up with this many?

You have tastings, right?

-We have tastings.

One of my goals is to have a tasting once a month, so at least nine during the schoolyear.

Hopefully we can do more, and then we do get a lot of input from our social media.

We've got a great young social media person, so a lot better at social media than I am.

-We also have to talk about student workers.

When I was at Fremont Middle School, that was my very first paid-- Did you listen to that?

Did you hear that?

--paid job.

And you guys pay students?

-And we pay students.

We pay high school students.

Middle school students get credit for it.

High school students get credit, plus they get paid for the experience, and it helps them.

I mean, food industry is huge.

-All right, Jake.

While I enjoy this, you tell us about your website.

Where can we get more information?

Students can look up the menus and see what's going on.

-It's menu.ccsd.net.

Again, if you forgot that, it's menu.ccsd.net.

You can look up the menu, your parents can look up the menu, and it changes on a regular basis, so you know what you're eating for the day.

-Yummy, cinnamon rolls.

-That's what I'm eating for the day.

-That does it for this episode of Student Spotlight.

A big thank-you to Central Kitchen for hosting us for this episode, and thank you for watching.

A reminder that you can always catch episodes of Student Spotlight on the Vegas PBS website or YouTube page.

We leave you with Ballet Folklorico Alborada from Sunrise Mountain High School.

See you next month.

♪♪