Senator Square: Students share holiday spirit

I walk around the halls of this building on the eve of Thanksgiving and I am greeted with smiling, happy students. Happy I am sure because they get the next four days off from sitting in a classroom.

I greet them with the same smile, but mine is because I know what a wonderful bunch of human beings they are. Just this past week, our staff and students collected food for some less-fortunate families in Carson City.

It is that time of year when we reflect on all the blessings in our lives and pause to take a moment to help those whose blessings fall short. Every time I offer up the opportunity in my classes to help others in the community, my students respond with generous giving.

My students amaze me. I am lucky I chose teaching as a profession and that I get to be influenced by their caring spirits.

So today, I pause to give thanks for my students.

HOLIDAY WITH A HERO

The seventh-annual Holiday with a Hero will be Dec. 14-15. The Carson City Sheriff's Office, Carson City School District, Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections and Uniformed First Responders from across the Carson Valley will collaborate to make Christmas a special time for students within the elementary, middle and high schools.

The children are selected from the school district's Students in Transition program. These students are homeless, living in shelters or with another family. This event will serve over 350 kids this year.

The students will be bused from their school to Walmart where they will meet with a local uniformed public safety official and given time to shop for anything they need.

The items will be gift wrapped, they will eat lunch and then return to school. You can support this program by making a voluntary monetary donation. All checks must be made payable to: Holiday with a Hero.

Donations can be made prior Dec. 9, at Bank of the West, 2976 N. Carson St., account #: 025761072 Tax ID #: 80-0763632; or dropped off at the Carson City Sheriff's Office, 911 E. Musser St. Donations may also be mailed to Holiday with a Hero, P.O. Box 2790, Carson City, NV 89702.

For more information, contact Detective Gonzales at dgonzales@

carson.org or Detective Lacy at dlacy@carson.org.

NHS WINS AWARD

The United Blood Services recently honored Carson High School's chapter of National Honor Society for their blood drives for the 2010-2011 school year.

CHS collected more units of blood than any other large high school in Northern Nevada and for their efforts UBS gave NHS a $3,500 grant!

The next blood drive is going to be Jan. 17th, and we'd love to see as much of the community as possible there.

For more information, contact NHS coordinators Elena Glenn at eglenn@carson.k12.nv.us or Lynette Brown at lbrown@carson.k12.nv.us.

ANGEL TREE AT CHS

An angel tree has been placed in the attendance office. Children from around the district have been identified by needing assistance this holiday season. Over 40 tags fill the tree.

We are asking for donations to fill the small requests of these children that range in age of newborn to 18 years old. If you'd like to adopt an angel tree tag or if you would like to make a monetary contribution to help us buy gifts for these children, contact Angila Golik at 283-1737 or agolik@carson.k12.nv.us.

BOWLING CLUB FUNDRAISER

The CHS Bowling Club will be running a fundraiser with Chili's 4-8 p.m. Tuesday.

We hope you can support our efforts by joining us at Chili's. Be sure to bring in a flier, which you can get from any bowling club member or Erin Been at ebeen@carson.k12.nv.us.

GREENHOUSE TO OPEN

The Greenhouse Project is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to establish and sustainably operate a community-based greenhouse and garden in Carson City.

The project operates under the auspices of the Carson City Cultural Commission and its Special Citizen Action Group. The project effort was in response to the need for the school children of Carson to learn the importance of sustainable living, provide fresh nutritious food free of charge to the food banks; and to help get families, children, schools and the community at large unplugged from the TV, computer games and the computer and reconnected with the outdoors.

The Carson City School District provided the land on which the Greenhouse Project, directly east of Carson High School. The project consists of a 2,160 square foot, commercial-sized greenhouse, outdoor community gardens and trails located on Carson High School's campus and aims to provide educational and vocational opportunities for students, youth groups and special needs individuals in a garden setting.

The entire site will be ADA accessible and a vital and critical component of the vision for The Greenhouse Project. The design both inside and outside the greenhouse and all planting tables will be designed to provide for persons with disabilities to access and work in the gardens.

Special needs programs in Carson City will be a vital part of the planting plans each year and therefore were carefully considered in the design of the plans. The Greenhouse will be designed to be self-sustainable through the provision of energy by solar panels and a ground source heat pump; the proper management of the soils and the growing environment.

The greenhouse operations will rely on renewable energy sources for power and use ecologically sustainable growing methods to cultivate vegetables, flowers and bedding plants.

The greenhouse is set to open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony slated for Dec. 16 at 2:30 p.m. at the greenhouse behind CHS. The public is invited to attend this celebration. For more information, contact Michelle Lewis at mlewis@carson.k12.nv.us.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

This week's senior spotlight is on Mary Longero.

Mary has a grade-point average of 4.02 and is enrolled in two advanced-placement classes and three honors classes.

Mary is a CHS National Honor Society officer and has helped organize blood drives and other service projects for the club. Mary is also a Link Leader for our Link Crew which helps freshmen transition to high school.

In addition, Mary has been on both the varsity women's basketball and tennis teams, earning a CHS letter in each. She is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and volunteers at her church.

We are proud of the contributions Mary has made to Carson High School and our community.

STAFF FACTS

Answer to last week: Ranger in Minnesota wilderness is Devin Nielsen, social studies teacher.

New fact: this staff member has played on two National Championship teams and won four Olympic medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze).

• Angila Golik is a government and sociology teacher at CHS and a member of Senator Pride.