Senator Square: CHS teacher proves he is Boston Strong

English teacher Joe Thornburg is no stranger to running long distances. He’s been participating in marathons and Iron Man races for many years. He just returned from Boston, where he participated in the 2014 Boston Marathon.

This is Joe’s second Boston Marathon as he ran it in 2009 also. This year’s race, as many know, was quite sentimental for the city of Boston, as well for many Americans wanting to make a patriotic statement against the bombings that happened a year ago at the race. With a total of 32,456 racers, Thornburg successfully completed the race in a time of 2 hours, 54 minutes and 13 seconds putting him in the place of 1,382 out of all those contestants.

After the bombing last year, Thornburg wrote on his Facebook wall, “Dear whoever did this, Thank you for only encouraging me further to run the 2014 Boston Marathon. I will run in honor of the victims, and I will run because I’m not afraid. You think you can intimidate, scare, and instill doubt in Americans. You are wrong. I may have only spent one week of my life in Boston, but as an American my heart is there, and I am going back.”

Congratulations Mr. Thornburg! We’re so proud of you. Way to represent Carson High School and Carson City.

SkillsUSA STATE RESULTS

Congratulations to the CHS SkillsUSA chapter for their accomplishments at the 2014 State Leadership Conference held in March in Las Vegas. The team of Ashley Andreas, Tommy Gall and Zach Simms placed first in the promotional bulletin board contest while Corey Reid and Arron Woodbury placed third in the same category.

In Architectural Drafting, Ashley Andreas placed third.

First place teams advance to the SkillsUSA National Leadership Conference in June in Kansas City, Mo. Adviser and teacher Bill Barbie received the SkillsUSA Lifetime Achievement Award. Two students from CHS were elected to be part of the state officer team for next year. Sarah Christl was elected treasurer, while Amanda Breen was elected reporter.

SAFE GRAD FUNDRAISER

Greater Nevada Credit Union, which has an educational branch inside of CHS, is running a fundraiser April 21-May 16 for Carson High’s 2014 Safe Grad.

The community is welcome to stop by any Greater Nevada branch in Carson City to purchase “Support Safe Grad” cards for a $1 suggested donation per card.

You do not need to be a credit union member to donate, and Greater Nevada will match all funds raised up to $500 total. This special fundraiser is in collaboration with Carson High School’s PTSA Safe Grad Committee to provide a safe, fun and sober celebration for graduating seniors.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

This week the Senior Spotlight is Shaina Bird. Shaina maintains a weighted grade-point average of 4.12 while taking numerous honors courses.

Shaina has been involved with National Honors Society for four years. This year she was a Link Crew Leader and loved it. She has also been a Candy Striper for the last four years.

Shaina will be studying at University of Reno with the help of the Millennium Scholarship. She is planning on majoring in professional chemistry, which has more of an emphasis on chemistry and calculus. Ultimately, Shaina plans on going to medical school.

Carson High School is proud of this young lady and wishes her the best in her future endeavors.

Angila Golik is a government teacher at Carson High School and a member of Senator Pride.