Senator Square: Carson High School takes another step to protect its students

Editor’s note: The following was written by Edward Shelley, a CHS Safe Schools Professional, School Social Worker II.

In an effort to address social and emotional needs of students, Carson High School is presenting the SOS (Signs of Suicide) Prevention Program. Freshman health classes were the first reached in February, and the JROTC students and health science classes are next. SOS is a universal school-based depression awareness and suicide prevention program designed for middle school students ages 11-13 and high school students ages 13-17. The goals are to decrease suicide and attempts by increasing student knowledge and adaptive attitudes about depression, encourage personal help seeking or help seeking on behalf of a friend, reduce the stigma of mental illness and acknowledge the importance of seeking help or treatment. Additionally, SOS will engage parents and school staff as partners in prevention through “gatekeeper” education and encourage schools to develop community-based partnerships to support student mental health. SOS curriculum raises awareness of depression and suicide, helps students identify the warning signs of depression in themselves and others, and identifies risk factors associated with depression and suicidal ideation. Students are taught to seek help using the ACT (Acknowledge, Care, Tell) technique, which teaches them to acknowledge when there are signs of a problem in themselves or a peer, show that they care and are concerned about getting help, and tell a trusted adult. Upon completion of the program, students are given response cards to indicate whether or not they would like to speak to a trusted adult about themselves or a friend. If you or someone you know is in crisis or at risk for suicide, please call the national toll-free hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Programs like these are put into action because multiple on-site groups are listening and responding to the needs of CHS students and staff.

CYBER MAFIA

CHS advisers Sherri Kelley and Josh Barham recap how the CHS robotics team, Cyber Mafia, did at the State Championship. As a new team, it has much to be proud of, achieving great success at the Nevada State First Tech Challenge Championship held at the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows Feb. 10. The team took second place for the Inspire Award, the top overall prize, and the team also won the Think Award, which is for the team that best reflects the journey taken as they experienced the engineering design process during the build season. The team also took second place for the Control Award for effectively using sensors and software to increase a robot’s functionality on the field. Upon reaching the semi-finals, Cyber Mafia was knocked out in a close best-out-of-three match. Beyond the new team’s successes, two individuals were recognized for their accomplishments and contributions: Sherri Kelley was named the Compass Award winner for being the best coach and mentor in Nevada. Luke Bowler was named a Dean’s List finalist, which recognizes leadership and dedication of the most outstanding student participants, and he and one other will now go on to compete with other finalists from around the country. Cyber Mafia is Emmanuel Alvarez, Luke Bowler (lead programmer), Michael Carine, Peng Chen, Nanami Duncan (business manager), Rylan Fancher (captain), Sarai Jauregui-Rivas, Nevan McIlwee, Casanova Segura, Alán Serrano (vice captain) and Andrius Stankus. In addition to advisors are coaches Michelle Bowler and Scot Duncan.

CHS NJROTC ORIENTEERING TEAM ACHIEVES TOP 10 STATUS AT NATIONALS

The CHS NJROTC orienteering team took 10th place at the Navy National Orienteering Invitational Competition Feb. 17-18 in Apopka, Fla. After a long, hard year of practices and meets, which started in February 2017, the CHS team was the No. 1 selected to represent its area at the national level competition. Head Coach Chief Ingram summarized the team’s performance, saying: “The Orienteering Nationals went really well for us with some really fast times, mostly due to that fact that there was no elevation; it was completely flat both days.” After the first day, CHS was 15th overall, and the second day put them at 10th. Some of the classes had more than 100 runners, so CHS performed well with some noteworthy accomplishments at the meet: Day 1 Individual Teams Freshman placed 13th, JV 8th, and Varsity 16th while Freshman Individuals’ Trinity Harvey took 13th, JV Briana Sanchez took 5th, and Instructor 50-years-old-plus Chief Ingram took 8th place. Day 2 Freshman Individuals’ Kyle Holloway placed 15th, Freshman Female Trinity Harvey 7th, Anika Soulier 9th, JV Darian Montalvo 14th, Briana Sanchez 9th, and Instructor Chief Ingram placed 4th. Trinity Harvey and Briana Sanchez received medals for being in the top 10 ten runners of their classes for both days. Trinity received a freshman 8th place medal and Briana received a JV female 6th place medal. Chief Ingram said, “Since starting here with CHS NJROTC, I am seeing a moving up the ranks each year; in 2015 we did not even place, 2016 we were in the top 20s, 2017 we were in the teens, and now we are in the top ten.” Ingram, confident about the future, said, “Hopefully, next year will be our podium year as we should have six seniors, two juniors, and six sophomores, which means I will have 14 team members competing to fill 10 spots; nothing like a little competition to get and keep them motivated, so we should have a solid.” The CHS NJROTC orienteering team not only represented well at the competition, it also represented CHS in such a positive light throughout the entire trip. Ingram said, “On several occasions, I had adults come up to me at restaurants and at the airports and ask where we were from, all of them saying what a great group of well behaved teenagers.”

KUDOS TO GNCU

Greater Nevada Credit Union is a frequent supporter of CHS and its many clubs and teams. On Feb. 22, members of the CHS robotics team, Cyber Mafia, dropped by the branch inside the school to deliver a thank you to Greater Nevada Credit Union Education Branch Coordinator Julie Slocum. Both this season and last season, GNCU provided the team with its T-shirts, so the team presented Julie with a picture of the team in a signed frame.

SAFE GRAD 5K RUN

The 8th Annual Safe and Sober 2018 5K run and walk at the CHS track facility, presented by CHS Safe Grad Booster, is set for March 17. The Safe Grad Committee started its annual Safe Grad tradition in 1988, providing graduating seniors a safe and sober all-night celebration on the eve of their graduation, followed by a trip to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Northern California. Registration and raffle tickets may be purchased by going to bighornracing.com, or mail in a form and check to Carson High Safe Grad Booster, PO Box 486, Carson City, 89702. Check-in time begins at 9 a.m., and the race begins promptly at 10 a.m. There will be a plethora of prizes, too. For information about the event, call Race Coordinator Kyra Hinton at 775-434-760-0635 or race.safegrad@gmail.com. Those interested may also visit carsonhighsafegrad.com.

GNCU PROM PACKAGE

Greater Nevada Credit Union Education Branch Coordinator Julie Slocum is calling attention to all CHS seniors and asking if they would like a chance to win $235 of prom valuables. The GNCU branch at CHS is giving away a prom package to one lucky senior, who will receive two prom tickets, a prom floral package, and a $100 Adele’s gift card. Entry forms and complete contest rules are available at the CHS GNCU branch. All entries are due by 1 p.m. March 16. Please do not miss this opportunity to win an amazing prom prize package.

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

The CHS Student of the Week is Jakob Carlson. Jakob stands out on so many positive levels as an AP English, AP Physics, and Honors US History student. Since his freshman year, he has played for CHS Track and Field. His favorite classes this year are Honors Forensics with Brian Manoukian and AP Physics with Jim Bean. In his free time, Jakob loves to play Dungeons and Dragons because, “It allows me to let go of the real world and be somewhere else for a little while.” Congratulations, Jakob, for helping to make CHS an exciting school.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

This week’s Senior in the Spotlight is Blaise Bonomo. With a cumulative GPA of 3.0, and a weighted GPA of 3.70, Blaise is proving to be an excellent student with a wide open future ahead of him. Blaise is also proving to himself and others his ability to succeed by tackling the challenging Jump Start program at Western Nevada College and following it through to completion, something many begin and fewer finish. Before graduating from CHS, Blaise will have completed English 101 and 102, History 101 and 102, Educational Psychology 150, Calculus 181, and Psychology 101. Additionally, Blaise has been a student athlete at CHS, playing football all four years. The stick-to-itiveness of this young man is absolutely amazing. Not only does Blaise play football, he is also a thrower on the CHS Track and Field Team. A highlight of his athletic career was starting in a regional football game as a sophomore as well as a shot put thrower on the track team; Blaise too made Regional’s as a junior. Due to an unfortunate injury, he will not be able to throw this year; however, it is not for lack of personal motivation. Blaise is currently participating in the Track and Field A (academic) Jump Start program in order to start his college career. He wanted to experience the rigor of college life as quickly as possible to see what he needed to be successful and complete what he started. Upon graduation from CHS and WNC, Blaise is planning on transferring to the University of Nevada, Reno, and enrolling in the Orvis School of Nursing to become a surgical nurse. CHS is an exciting place to be thanks to students like Blaise Bonomo.

Phil Brady is an English teacher at CHS.