Supreme summer: CHS teacher to visit highest court

Carson High School government teacher Angila Golik will see first-hand this week some processes she’s only been able to teach her students out of a textbook.

“I feel extremely honored that I was chosen for an experience to sit in the Supreme Court and listen to the justices hand down decisions,” Golik said. “Not very many people get that opportunity.”

Golik left Tuesday for Washington, D.C. where she will be among 60 teachers selected across the nation to attend the Supreme Court Summer Institute.

The Institute, open to teachers in law-related and civic education, is co-sponsored by Street Law, Inc. and the Supreme Court Historical Society.

It offers teachers the opportunity to study recent Supreme Court cases in detail and learn new ways to convey the information to students. Well-known Supreme Court lawyers, reporters, scholars and educators will be among the speakers and instructors.

“For the government nerd I am, this is my bucket list,” Golik said. “It’s one of the things I will go to my grave remembering.”

Golik, who writes the weekly Senator Square column for the Nevada Appeal, has taught social studies and American government for 15 years, 10 of them at Carson High School.

“I have a political science degree,” she said. “I went to college originally to be involved in the world of politics. Government is my passion. Imparting that knowledge and helping kids see the importance of it is also my passion.”

Upon returning, Golik will share what she learned with other teachers from Carson High School and other schools in the area.

“Other teachers in my field dream of these kinds of things,” she said.

“To be able to share the experience with them is really exciting. That’s part of what makes it feel so important to me.”