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

♪♪♪ CCSD is the fifth largest school district in the nation, with student success as its number one goal.

Join us as we meet student go-getters and goal setters and discover their skills, talents, and drive.

Plus meet the incredible staff who are helping students shine.

It's all here in Student Spotlight.

(Maria Silva) Hi, everyone, and thank you so much for joining us for Student Spotlight .

I'm Maria Silva.

We have a lot to share with you in the next half hour.

February is Black History Month.

Tag along as students from Martin Luther King Jr.

Elementary School share what they have learned about their school's namesake.

Plus highlights from the superintendent's State of the Schools Address.

Then we'll take you behind the scenes of the Vegas PBS TV show Varsity Quiz to meet some exceptionally smart students.

And...

Preparing tomorrow's leaders, students from Jobs 4 Nevada's Graduates join us in-studio to talk about a recent trip to Washington, D.C.

But first to Valley High School where a partnership between two programs provides high school and elementary students an opportunity to learn from each other.

[band plays] (Aurora Groneman) I'm like, what is happening?

(Brooke Wheatly) I want to get them hyped.

I want to get them excited.

-On this day at Valley High School-- (Edgar Trigeuros) It's a big school.

- --more than 100 fifth graders from Piggott Academy of International Studies got a big welcome.

(Jocelyn Noyla) Yeah.

It was a Valley welcome, yeah.

-Both Piggott and Valley have international baccalaureate programs known simply as "IB."

(Anabelle Ramos) The IB program is a program in which we are preparing for college, so we're taking college-level classes in high school.

-Basically, we're helping fifth graders that are also in IB to, like, help them with their projects.

-Research projects that fifth graders will present as a team.

-My teacher puts that as our biggest project of our entire elementary existence because it shows what we have learned at our school and as an IB learner.

-They call it "Exhibition."

-Exhibition is we pick a topic to help people learn about it so they can be more aware of what is happening in the world.

Our presentation is on drug abuse.

(Beza Darios) My group is going to be working on gender equality.

And we are making a craft stand to raise money for SafeNest, which is a-- which is an organization that helps women in need.

-To help prepare for the project, the fifth graders are matched with mentors, high school juniors, like Annabelle.

-Currently, I have them working on note cards in order to be able to present with them since that was one of the techniques I had offered to them to, like, prepare for their presentations.

-And they've been working together since last fall.

-It satisfies the requirements of both programs.

So they're doing a capstone for their fifth grade, and then our juniors are meeting their CAST requirement of doing a project of service for something.

(Jocelyn Perez) I like working with them because they're really smart, and they can think of anything.

-Today is the last in-person meeting between mentors and mentees.

-The mentors helped us with, like, presenting and helping us find information.

I think we're gonna do really good.

-It's a partnership that has led to relationships.

-So I just want to make sure that they're happy with everything and that they know we were here to support them.

And, like, if they need anything, we're here.

-And knowledge, far beyond the project itself.

-I'm thinking about how you're going to be up there one day.

You're going to be-- you're going to be a mentor for another kid, that kid is going to be another mentor, and so on.

So they lead amazing examples for you, which you can give a great example to others.

-A number of schools in the Clark County School District offer IB programs.

You can learn more at magnet.ccsd.net.

For decades, some of the brightest students in the Clark County School District have come right here to the Vegas PBS studios to compete in Varsity Quiz .

Meet a top-rated team from Silverado High School as they prepare for and compete in the Varsity Quiz Blue League Championship.

♪♪♪ (Sheila Parise) We're at Vegas PBS for Varsity Quiz .

It's kind of like Jeopardy, but we actually have a lot of academic related questions.

And it's kind of like a competition for the kids who love to learn trivia, who know math, who know English, who are just really into that kind of stuff.

(Nick Pavlildes) Today we're here for the final match of the Blue League between Silverado and Bonanza.

And our team is here because we finished 5 and 0 in our division, and we won our semifinal match.

- Hawks on three .

One, two, three, Hawks!

-Feeling pretty good.

We have a lot of great students, a lot of very knowledgeable students at our school.

And we've been practicing and talking about strategies, and we have our game plan.

So we'll try our best.

(Nateyele) I feel pretty good about our competition tomorrow.

It's a really great experience, you know?

I get to have fun practicing.

And the teams are really nice.

It's good to hang out with them.

It's fun to be playing against other schools and especially be on TV.

-Nate?

-Tobacco.

-That's correct, tobacco.

(Naomi Jackson) I just thought it would be like a really fun thing that, like, I might enjoy.

We're learning so many things in the questions.

And there's lots of opportunities to just hang out with people.

I think we're gonna do good.

We have a really good team.

-So we're seeing Bonanza and Silverado tonight, and we're seeing the top teams of that league go head-to-head for the championship.

And so it's just exciting to see.

-There's a lot of positive benefits.

I think the students develop self-confidence.

I think they develop sportsmanship, cooperation, and teamwork.

And I think it gives them another opportunity to make friends and try a new experience something that they normally don't get to do in a classroom setting, the Varsity Quiz .

(Nate Tannenbaum) I think it gives them public speaking, it gives them public appearance, it gives them confidence, a potential for growth, potential for a better future.

Coming up, it's Silverado... [applause] taking on Bonanza.

[applause] This is the Varsity Quiz Blue League Championship.

[cheers and applause] -Typhoon and cyclone.

-Yes.

-Sharecropping.

-Yes.

-Let's find out who won.

Silverado gets the title "VQ23 Blue League Champions."

[cheers and applause] Silverado's Varsity Quiz coach says the team will recognize the win with a small victory, well deserved, but then it's back to work.

Practice for the next Varsity Quiz competition begins again in just a few weeks.

"We are CCSD."

That is a campaign launched by CCSD Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara during his 2023 State of the School Address.

During the annual speech, the superintendent outlined his vision for the Clark County School District to support student success.

(Dr. Jesus Jara) So if we are going to improve, which we are, if we are going to improve academic outcomes for more of our children, we must pay teachers their worth, value their skills, give them more time-- they need more time --hold each other accountable for the success for our students, restore respect in the profession, and optimally fund public education as a great equalizer that it's meant to be.

-Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo helped kick off the superintendent's address, receiving a jersey from Rancho High School, his alma mater.

You can watch the entire 2023 State of the Schools Address on the CCSD website.

That is ccsd.net.

And for more news around the Clark County School District, let's head over to Palo Verde High School for our first "News Break."

(Peter) Hi, I'm Peter, and I'm from Palo Verde High School.

(Lesley) And I'm Lesley, and we're here with your first News Break story.

-It's a new year, and Clark County School District has two new trustees and one returning trustee.

The three new trustees took their oath of office in January.

Trustee Linda Cavazos was re-elected to represent District G., Trustee Irene Bustamante Adams represents District F., and Trustee Brenda Zamora represents District D. You can learn more about all of our Trustees at ccsd.net.

-Have you tried Paper yet?

That's the free on-demand virtual tutoring service available to all CCSD students.

Paper makes it possible to get help in any subject 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

You can access Paper by using your online Clever account.

Give it a try!

-That's it for now, but some of my classmates will be here later to talk about our school.

-Let's send it back to Vegas PBS studios and Maria.

-Thank you so much, Peter and Leslie.

Well, February is Black History Month.

We went to Martin Luther King Jr.

Elementary School to discover how students there recognize the month and their school's namesake.

(Doug Taylor) I truly enjoy coming here every day and really making sure that the beliefs of Dr. King are highlighted through our school community.

And our students learn about that, and the way that we treat each other as a staff and as a school community really highlights some of the things that Dr. King was working for.

(Sam) I'm Sam, and I'm doing a paper of Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King.

So basically we're, all of us are doing a paper of when they were born, when they died, and how we're gonna celebrate them for Black History Month.

-And around our school, we have some of the different projects that our students have been working on for Black History Month, highlighting just the great accomplishments of African Americans in the United States and really around the world.

-Many African Americans lost their jobs because they were choosing not to ride the buses.

Then they made a law that boycotts were illegal, so Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks were arrested.

-Black history is a complicated subject, but it is imperative that our teachers, they don't shy away from it.

They need to teach these lessons; they're very important.

There's so many important African American people that have changed the world each and every day.

(Ma'laya) I didn't think it was fair that I had to give up my seat, so I stood up for what I believed in and said no.

A wonderful man named Martin Luther King, Jr., came to the rescue.

-Dr. King was really ahead of his time.

A lot of what we have now in this country you would not have without Dr. King, you know, really advocating for African Americans and, really, for all people.

-So impressed by these students.

Good job!

Now let's send it over to Adam from the Vegas PBS media crew, a crew of students and former students who create and produce special content for teens and tweens.

Hi, Adam.

(Adam) Hi, Maria.

In addition to Black History Month, February is also Career and Technical Education Month.

Did you know that more than 72,000 CCSD students are enrolled in a CTE program?

These programs provide hands-on, skill-based learning to help students become career ready.

EJ from our Vegas PBS media crew has more about a healthy competition for students interested in the culinary arts.

(EJ) Hi.

My name is EJ, reporting here from Vegas PBS.

For many students, extracurricular programs can be seen as an opportunity to have a more hands-on experience with something that they enjoy doing.

Culinary Arts is a popular program not only because a lot of students want to learn how to cook, but some students may want to pursue it as a career someday.

So we went and visited UNLV to see the Flavors for Life cooking competition.

(Annarella Jordan) My name is Annarella Jordan.

I am the founder of Flavors for Life.

It's a nonprofit organization that works with high school students to teach them how to cook healthy and, of course, eat healthy too.

This is our third competition as Flavors for Life.

(Andrea) This competition is an evaluation of your understanding of nutrition.

Everybody gets to pick out a dish that they choose to make.

And how they choose to go about making it healthy, whether that be sweet or savory, and it's just your interpretation of a healthy meal.

-Every recipe can taste awesome, you know, super tasty, with the right ingredients.

(Christiana) Today we're going to be making a dark chocolate lava cake garnished with strawberries and raspberries as well as powdered sugar.

This competition is about creating healthy recipes that are not just good for yourself, but good for everyone around you and evaluating what we have learned in school and how to apply that to what we're making.

-And when they learn the benefits of eating healthy and cooking healthy, I think they start thinking differently.

People think that it's more expensive, but really, vegetables are so cheap.

It's just because you have to do something with the vegetables, that's why.

They don't know what to do.

For me, culinary classes should be in every school, because we have a lot of testimonies from students.

And I'm so thankful for all the teachers who do all the work, really.

-Again, thank you to all the teachers, students, and workers that helped put the whole event together and allowed us to be there.

Once again, I'm EJ with the Vegas PBS media group.

We'll see you next time.

-Thanks EJ.

Culinary Arts is one of about 70 different CTE programs offered by the Clark County School District.

A-Tech Student Will has more about the IT Networking program at his school.

(Will) What you're seeing may not look like much, but equipment racks and messy tables are simply one of the byproducts of Networking students learning to further their skills.

Today I am joined by the department's teacher who helped me answer some questions about what a program like IT Networking means to not just the school, but to everybody who uses an internet-connected device.

Why is the IT program different from the other majors here at A-Tech?

(Melissa Perrin-Smith) That's a really good question.

A lot of people don't understand that IT Networking actually covers the backbone of every single device that touches the network.

So cell phones, all the way down to your other smart devices, to your computing devices, to the Web, as well as the securities that go along with it.

It deals with every little zero and one.

So you take Computer Science, they're programming usually what you see as a user, whereas Networking, people see the zeros and ones behind those programs and deal with all of those applications to make sure that you are passing your information back and forth as a user and can understand it.

-So what does the IT program teach students here at A-Tech?

-The IT program here at A-Tech teaches them how to take the items from hardware, that inside modem, that little chip, and talk it to all sorts of applications where they can make cables.

They move at that physical layer where they're touching hardware, touching the cables, building the actual equipment, putting them together all the way up to the point where they're developing that overarching networking capability of architecture where they can work with large scale networks that are as big as the world, moving information across.

-Over the course of the next semester, students will continue to work with connecting the equipment and configuring the software.

-Thank you, Will.

To learn more about Career and Technical Education in the Clark County School District, visit cteinccsd.org.

We'll be back at the end of the show with our segment "In Our Opinion."

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

-Thank you, Adam.

Helping students graduate career- and/or college-ready is so very important.

And that's one of the goals of the nonprofit Jobs 4 Nevada's Graduates.

The nonprofit recently sent eight Nevada high school students to a National Student Leadership Academy in Washington, D.C.

They are back here from their experience, and we have-- we are so honored to have three of them here in studio.

Zamya Works and Veronica Madrid attend Del Sol High School, and Nellie Garcia-Mendieta attends Bonanza High School.

Thank you all for joining us!

-Thank you for having us.

-How exciting!

Washington, D.C.!

I'm going to start with you, Zamya.

Let's talk a little bit about this wonderful organization for students and maybe people out there who don't know about it.

Talk to us about that and the experience.

(Zamya Works) For those who don't know about it, J4NG is a program that helps students expand their horizons and learn specific things, maybe about employability skills.

-And tell us about your experience real quick.

Again, your going to Washington, D.C. At such a young age and to experience so much, that must have been pretty special.

-Yes.

My experience was wonderful.

I saw so many things that maybe you wouldn't think you would have the opportunity to do at such a young age.

I felt that it expanded my horizons and made me start to think higher than what I had already originally thought about.

-Oh, again, so proud of you.

I can't help but smile.

Veronica, tell me a little bit about the Leadership Academy.

What did you learn?

(Veronica Madrid) The Leadership Academy was an amazing experience overall.

What I learned was "worth ethics."

I also learned about schooling, scholarships, and more about the J4NT programs around the United States.

-And that is what's so great, right?

It's not just here in Nevada?

-Correct.

It's all over the United States.

-Okay.

All right, Nellie, let's talk a little bit about there were some pretty special speakers there as well.

You got to meet some of them that really left a lasting impression on you.

(Nellie Garcia-Mendieta) I really liked Anna Tovar.

We had lunch with her, and she was-- it stuck with me because she's Latina.

And then she was Arizona's mayor, first female.

So it's really inspiring what she's done.

-And let's talk about what would you tell other students who might be watching this who don't know about the program and, you know, maybe want to join.

What can you tell us about that?

-I can tell students that maybe are looking to join the program is that it keeps you thinking and it keeps you always on your toes.

Every day it's something new, and you're able to just be so creative within yourself and others.

It's fun working together; you'll do a lot of teamwork.

And I'll just say that it'll be a great experience for you.

-And the most memorable experiences for you, again, the fact that to be able to say that at your young age, you've been to Washington, D.C. And I do have to ask the three of you, any chance you might go into politics after this?

-A high chance, yes.

-Okay.

So it was that memorable that you left thinking, You know what?

This is something that I might want to do.

-Yes.

Politics is not easy, but at the same time, it would be something that people would want to go into.

-And what about you, Nellie?

-Same thing.

It looks hard.

[laughter] But to know that you're making a difference, right?

-Yes, that's the most important part.

I was going home jokingly saying, I might be mayor one day.

Who knows?

-Why not?

President.

-Yeah.

-Why not, right?

-Right.

[laughter] And then, now all of you, I know that you told me, Veronica, that you were actually inspired by your sister.

-I was.

I was inspired by my sister, Monica.

She was Jags president in 2019, and she's the one who inspired me to push myself, along with my dad.

-Oh, that is so wonderful.

Thank you all for being here.

Again, I am smiling because I'm so proud of all of you.

Thank you so much for what you do.

-Thank you.

-The fact that you went to Washington, D.C., that is pretty awesome.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Let's go back to Palo Verde High School for our second "News Break."

(Mya) Hi, I'm Mya from Palo Verde High School, home of the Panthers.

(Dominic) And we're back with another "News Break," this one about our school.

-First, some history.

Palo Verde opened in 1996 in the master planned community of Summerlin.

Our high school has more than 3,200 students and offers Advanced Placement classes, International Baccalaureate, dual credit courses, and Career and Technical Education.

Our Speech and Debate team is ranked number one in the state.

-We are part of the Video Production program.

This program started with just one section in 1998.

Today, there are six sections of Video One, Two, and Three.

Our PVTV news program is broadcast live each day to our student body and staff.

We have a very active club scene here at Palo.

We have a Hope Squad, Robotics club, an Archery club, and a Random Acts of Kindness club, just to name a few.

Palo Verde is also a proud Purple Heart School.

This designation provides a major commitment to serving military-connected students and families.

-Thanks for learning more about Palo Verde High School.

Now let's take it back to the Vegas PBS studios.

-Thank you, Mya and Dominic.

That does it for this edition of Student Spotlight .

A reminder that you can watch this episode and past episodes on the Vegas PBS website.

Stay tuned for "In Our Opinion" from the Vegas PBS media crew.

Thanks so much for watching.

[electronic music] (Joseph) Hi, my name is Joseph, and welcome back to "In Our Opinion."

The overarching goal of our show is to see what the teens of Vegas have to say, and then get their voices out there.

However, we're not the only ones doing it.

Video Production students at Canyon Springs High School were tasked with making a documentary on a topic of their choice.

One student, however, took this as an opportunity to go above and beyond and share something that they were passionate about.

Let's take a look.

(Keva McGee) The project that I assigned was for the students to create mini documentaries where they were expressive and they chose whatever topic that they wanted to highlight as their documentary.

More than 1 in 3 high school students had experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2019.

-You have made a very interesting documentary.

What's the topic?

-(Chris) Teen suicide, teen mental health.

-Why?

What made you choose a topic like that, teen suicide?

-I feel like we all have a story.

I have a story.

You have a story.

And I wanted to see what kind of side effects this story might have.

-A lot of students are struggling in being expressive or being able to communicate with adults about what they experience.

And I think Chris's documentary exposes that.

-Failure, I feel like is a, was a big motivator, but also a big--what's the opposite of motivate?--demotivator.

[snaps fingers] -Demotivator.

[laughter] - --because there's that fear of failure.

But I'm still being pushed by my fantastic teacher to finish it, and I'm being pushed from myself to try and pump out the best thing that I can.

And I think this was my opportunity to try to, to try to win, I guess.

-What age demographic were you shooting for while making this video?

-Around 16, 15.

Because, I mean, that's who I interview.

So teenagers.

-Mm-hmm.

-I think subconsciously also, parents.

I want to show parents what their kids might be going through, because some parents might not care.

They might not want to ask their kids, or they just-- Sometimes it's an ignorance.

Or not ignorance, but like it's a sweet bliss.

So they don't know because the kids never said anything.

It's more of just trying to get the kid to be at a better mental mind.

-Actually, I did learn a long time ago from, like, a teacher is that, he said, At one point you'll come to a time in your life where you'll know someone that's committed suicide.

And as sad as a thought of that being that that's real.

That's definitely a real thing in people's lives.

And something as heartbreaking as suicide is, you know, something that isn't talked about enough.

And the more-- I see where you're coming from, definitely.

-From family members, to friends, to somebody you might sit next to in class, I think they've all thought about how it might go down.

And I think that it might surprise you who might really want to do it, and that's what shocked me.

-You've done a great job at, like, just hitting that mark.

It's just like you have something that you know you want to say that you think is important, and you're gonna put it out there and you're gonna do it in a way that you know how you can, and you're going to do a good job.

Thank you so much.

This has been very insightful.

As far as, like, student creation, this is, like, this is on the mark what we're looking for.

Thank you, Chris, for your time.

Now, it's not lost on us that we talked about some more serious topics today, and we figured it best to end up with some resources for those that might need it.

We went and talked with counselors at the CCSD Crisis Response Team to get their professional opinions on the matter.

What are some things that you and your services provide that would help, that teens could reach out to themselves?

(Tiffany Graves) Absolutely.

So one thing that the state of Nevada has is SafeVoice, which is any student, any parent, any community member can log on and type in something that they're concerned about: That their own student is having suicidal thoughts; what should they do?

Someone will immediately contact them.

And whatever services they need, they'll be put in touch with.

(Kevin Ferre) So Hope Means Nevada is an organization that's available for kids.

Also, we have the national hotline, 1-800-273-TALK.

You can reach out and call that number.

We have 9-8-8, which is a national number now that just like 9-1-1 is there for medical emergency, 9-8-8 is for a mental health emergency.

So if you're experiencing struggling, you need something, you can just dial 9-8-8 and say, I need some help right away.

I think the idea is to let students know you're not alone, that other people are going through similar things or have gone through this.

And even if this is something new for you that you're going through, it can be very scary when you start to feel those feelings.

But to realize that there are people there to help you through it, and you can and you will get through it, if we can-- if we just know about it.

-Whatever that student needs, we'll make sure we stay with that student until they get all the help they need.

♪♪♪