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

-Coming up on Student Spotlight, catch up with the competitive cheer team at Grant Sawyer Middle School.

I should mention they are also national champions.

Plus... CCSD's Got Talent.

Go behind the scenes of the first-ever singing competition for school district staff, and meet the winner.

Then tag along on a field trip to BizTown and celebrate science at John S. Park Elementary School.

Those stories and so much more.

Student Spotlight starts right now.

[swiping sound] ♪♪ Thank you so much for joining us.

I'm your host, Maria Silva, and we are at John S. Park Elementary School.

And this school, I have to tell you, has a very special place in my heart.

This was the first school the Silva siblings attended when we first arrived in Las Vegas many, many years ago.

I have yearbook photos to prove it.

We'll talk about that in a bit and all of the incredible things happening at this school.

But first, in honor of Autism Awareness Month, let's head across town to Tony Alamo Elementary School.

-Sadie, how do you feel?

-April at Tony Alamo Elementary School is Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month.

(Cessie Feraro) It's very refreshing to find a group of kids who really empathize with the students.

-Empathy, something we witnessed first hand as we visited each of the primary autism classes, grades K through 2nd, and the intermediate autism classes, 3rd through 5th.

-You talk to most special education teachers, they would tell you that they love, they love their jobs.

Not because of anything else, it's because of the students.

These students don't have any mean bone in their body, so you really try to understand what they want to convey.

-At Alamo Elementary School, there are two intermediate autism teachers and three primary autism teachers, including Miss Feraro.

-Very good.

Look at you.

What we usually do is we teach the students how they learn.

It's not just one type fits all.

-So Olivia, how many trees do we have in Washington, D.C.?

-More than 300.

-Nice job.

See you are listening.

I love it.

-We also do a lot of sensory things, because that's mostly what our students in autism need, the sensory input.

And when they come to our classroom, they will say, Oh, all they do is play in the classroom.

No.

-Five.

Because you earn five, you get a toy.

Choose one.

-Good job.

-Everything in the classroom has a purpose.

Students with autism usually learn through visual, kinesthetic, and auditory.

What we do is we put everything together, and we do it through music.

-Miss Feraro knows they can't do their job alone.

-We're trying our best with the resources that we have.

Please, for the parents, to coordinate with the teacher, to connect with the teacher, because really, it takes a village.

-That village of kind and caring individuals also includes a special programs teaching assistance, or SPTA.

-The SPTAs actually spend more time with the students than the teachers.

They're with the students when they're in the general education classroom, at lunchroom.

-Good job following direction.

So give me high five.

Good job.

-During school events, like a recent open house, the teachers are always ready to educate others about autism awareness, acceptance, and inclusion, and not just during the month of April.

-They would see some of our students who have headphones or who have chewies.

So we are going to show them, okay, these are the different things, and this is why they use it, and this is how they use it.

There you go.

Yea!

You did it!

-Special thanks to all of these amazing special education teachers at Alamo Elementary School and at all of our CCSD schools.

You are all heroes in my book.

Grateful for all that you do to help our wonderful students.

Thank you so much.

Well, in addition to April being Autism Awareness Month, this month is also Financial Literacy Month.

And there is a special place that allows elementary school students to operate banks, manage restaurants, and even write checks.

The nonprofit Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada helps kids connect the dots between what they learn in school and the real world.

Welcome to BizTown.

Inside this building on East Tropicana is a very special town.

-This is a place where you can actually be adults.

Well, like, it's kind of like a kid's version.

-A BizTown, built especially for students.

(Brendee Voshall) One of our 5th grade social studies standards is financial literacy.

And they put together this wonderful field trip, and we've been preparing-- - --to help them learn about how money works in the real world.

(Courtney Dezonia) Today we have a school, Tom Williams, come in.

And all the students have been interviewed prior to coming here.

They have a job and are now being an adult for the day, getting paid, buying things, and doing real life adult work.

-On this day, Cyrus is not just a 5th grader.

(Cyrus McGauhey)I'm the CFO, which is also the Chief Financial Officer.

-And he works at the Nevada Gold Mines.

-I have to keep track of all my-- all my employees' money, and I have to give them their paycheck so they can go cash it at the bank and go shop.

-The CEO is Monica.

(Monica Zavala) When customers come, it is my job to, like, talk to them and accept their-- if they have offers for me.

-It's all part of a hands-on lesson where students literally run the town while learning about careers and how to manage money.

-So all of the kids get paid.

They get to choose where they bank, choose what they spend their money on, whether or not they want to open a savings account, how they spend their money, how to write a check, how to deposit, what's direct deposit, learning those simple money skills that many of us don't get to know right off the bat.

(Anahi Monarrez) I'm a mayor.

A mayor means having a lot of responsibilities and taking care of your city.

-And yes, even this town's mayor needs financial skills.

-We get loans from certain businesses.

-Wait, what is a loan?

-A loan is money you have to pay back to the bank.

-Here students learn critical lessons about everything from credit to taxes.

-They bring their check to the bank, and the banker's like, Okay, 7.84 is going in your account.

And they're like, What do you mean 7.84?

I get paid $8.

And we explain to them, That tax goes back to the city, and now you're paying for our police officers, you're paying for our fire department here at BizTown.

-Information that will serve them well in the years to come.

-Financial literacy is something that they are going to be dealing with very quickly when they have summer jobs or when they, you know, turn 16 and they, you know, they start working and have their first paycheck.

-Because while BizTown is a simulated city, it teaches kids real life skills.

-Be kind and don't overspend your money.

-So you can succeed in life and have a good life when you grow up.

-You can learn more about Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada and all of its programs by visiting the website southernnevada.ja.org.

Now let's head Roy Martin Middle School for our first "News Break."

-Hello.

I'm Khufu from Roy Martin Middle School.

-And I'm Nathalia from Roy Martin Middle School.

And we are here with the first "News Break."

-Our school district has a new superintendent.

During the March 13 board meeting, the CCSD Board of Trustees selected Jhone Ebert as the new superintendent.

Ebert is a former CCSD educator and brings more than 30 years of experience in K through 12 education, policy, and administration.

She most recently served as Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction.

You can learn more about the superintendent on the school district's website.

-Parents are empowering parents.

The CCSD Family Engagement Office organized the second annual "Parent Empowering Parents" event last month.

The event had workshops led by parents for parents.

The goal is to help parents connect to each other and connect to community resources.

What a great event.

-When we come back, I can tell you all about our school and our TV Production class.

-Did you know that Maria was a student like us at Roy Martin Middle School?

With that, we will send back to Maria.

-Thank you so much.

You guys are awesome.

Well, while I only attended your school for a few months, it's where I met some of my dearest friends.

So yes, I will always be a proud Roy Martin Colt.

Well, from Roy Martin Middle School to Grant Sawyer Middle School, where the competitive cheer team has a lot to cheer about.

They recently competed in the USA Junior Nationals Championship in California.

And, proud to say, they came back to Vegas with the title.

[coach counting off] (Katelyn Jewel Miguel) Cheer isn't an everybody's sport.

To be on a competitive cheer team, it takes-- it takes a lot of hard work.

You spend all these practices together, and you spend half of your weekends with them, and you have to create that bond.

(Jourdyn Prough) I honestly love doing it because it's a great support system, and it pretty much is your family towards the end of the season.

(Shelby Green) Okay, ready.

S-M-S.

I started the cheer team four years ago.

We had no uniforms, no mats, no anything.

And so we built the program from the ground up, and we're really proud of how far it's come.

-We come here, we change, we roll up the mats, and we go to our elites or pyramid or dance or cheer, and we work on each section to make it perfect.

-In a competitive cheer team, you have to work as a unit.

You have to work together, and you have to build that trust.

(Destiny Young) You have a stunt group that is just in their own world, it's gonna affect everybody.

So it's more like we do it as one.

It's not you all by yourself, or you can't just do this and that.

You have to do it as a team and work well with everybody.

-1-hit 3-5-7-1.

-When you walk onto mat, you have to leave that routine on that mat, because what you've been working hard for is what you're gonna put in front of the judges.

-Your goal is to do what's called "hitting zero."

So you get zero deductions.

And usually when you hit zero, you are more likely to win.

-USA nationals is in California.

It's in Anaheim.

-So it's the championship for all middle schools from across the country.

-We went to Anaheim my sixth grade year.

We, let's just say we did not do very good.

-I was nervous for the first time.

I'm normally not nervous for competition.

But this one, I was nervous.

-I was scared, but when I got on the mat, I just remembered things from muscle memory.

-I had my head bowed, and I was like, we're gonna do it.

We're gonna win this.

-As soon as they said second place and third place, it was relief, just all over our bodies.

-We went there, and we worked our butts off for that spotlight.

We're national champions.

That's what we do.

-To see them finally win and get recognized for all that hard work, and to see it pay off for them, you could tell that they felt like the work was all worth it.

And I was happy for them that they finally got that moment.

(Hailee Duggins) Well, they have.

We all have dedicated a lot of time to skill set technique this season.

I think a lot of conditioning, more than they're accustomed to, but it really paid off.

-You have to have, like, a lot of patience for this.

-I would bring my strength and to push beyond my boundaries and try to do my best at it.

-You build confidence.

-And you also learn to, like, work well with teammates.

-I love doing this.

-Sawyer me!

Sawyer on 3!

1-2-3, Sawyer!

-Nice job!

Well, we want to brag a little more about this coach and this team.

Coach Green tells us this squad has taken home first place in every competition they attended this year.

What an incredible work ethic, not to mention talent.

Congratulations!

That's what you get when it comes to my cheering abilities.

All right.

Well, speaking of talent, let's talk about our school district staff.

This year, staff competed in the very first ever singing competition just for district employees "CCSD's Got Talent."

And boy, do we have talent.

After multiple audition rounds, the finalists took the spotlight for the grand finale, and our cameras were there.

Check it out.

♪♪ (Brad Keating) So six months ago, I walked into my team, and I said, I have an amazing idea.

We've watched our teachers and our staff all across the district work with students and give them the skills and the opportunities to get on the stage and show their stuff.

Why not give our staff the same ability and same opportunity to do that?

So CCSD's Got Talent was created, and here we are, just a few months later, excited to see the 10 finalists in the first inaugural CCSD's Got Talent.

♪♪ -Hello, CCSD.

How you-all doing?

Somebody scream!

(Paul Casey) I am a primary autism teacher at Rundle Elementary School.

[singing] (Denise Diaz) Our staff are such hard working individuals.

And having them come together in an opportunity to share their talents, we already know that they're talented in the classroom and they have a passion for education, but what is their passion outside of the classroom?

(Robert West) My job is I'm a choir teacher at Clark High School.

Music is a great thing, and I love singing.

And this combines both of my talents together, education and music.

[singing] (Cynthia Schutz) I work at Tarkanian Middle School in the choir department, and I'm the instructional aide.

It has been so exciting.

The contestants are wonderful.

They're all great singers.

This has been just a lot of fun, so we're having a great time back there.

[singing] -So we're excited to see people come together and support one another and create that culture of support, that culture of recognition, and knowing that we aren't just school professionals, but we have things going on in our lives outside and highlighting those talents.

[singing] -The CCSD's Got Talent Grand Champion is--drum roll, please... Dominique!

[cheers and applause] -I'm Dominique Gaston, and I just won CCSD's Got Talent.

-CCSD's Got Talent!

-Bravo!

Big congratulations to all of the finalists and the winner.

Now let's head back to Roy Martin Middle School for our second "News Break."

-Hi.

I'm Natalie from Roy Martin Middle School.

-And I'm Juan from Roy Martin Middle School, and we're back with the second "News Break."

-We love being part of the TV Production program here at Roy Martin Middle School.

We have about 170 students that are part of the program.

Together, we produce our school's morning announcements.

That means we write the scripts, think about graphics, shoot and edit video.

We are learning how to critically think and write information in a fun and original way.

My favorite part is shooting video of fun events of our school.

-Our school is a lot different than when Maria went here.

In fact, we are in a totally new building.

Roy Martin Middle School originally opened in 1959 on East Stewart Avenue.

The school was named after Dr. Roy West Martin.

He was one of the first doctors in Las Vegas.

-In 2005, a big fire destroyed the gym and caused a lot of damage in our school.

So a few years later, this brand new two-story school was built.

-We currently have about 1,200 students enrolled at our school.

We're also a part of the IB programs, which means we're always working to evaluate and analyze, develop ideas, and create smart solutions.

Thanks for learning more about Roy Martin Middle School.

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

-Thank you so very much.

You are all so talented.

I'm so proud of each and every one of you.

And a big special thank you to Mr. Gutierrez for being a great teacher and mentor to these future journalists.

Well, from future journalists to future scientists.

Once a month, students here at John S. Park Elementary School engage in exciting and hands-on science projects.

Check it out.

-I was thinking we don't need the rubber bands yet.

-In Ms. Todechiney's 4th grade class, students are building something really cool.

-We tie them at the top.

-Okay.

-We make a pyramid.

-Okay.

What do you guys think about that?

(Francesco Curcio) Today, we're trying to build a skyscraper, and we need it to stay still to survive a simulation earthquake.

So basically, we're using sticks and rubber bands.

And then there's this plate that shakes, so we need to tie the sticks to the rubber bands.

-So you guys have to move it 20 times, and if it falls, did you pass?

-No.

-No.

-Once a month, John S. Park Elementary celebrates Science Rotation Day.

(Amber Martin) We feel like a lot of science kind of falls by the wayside.

Most schools concentrate on ELA and math, reading, that kind of thing.

And science just kind of gets left behind.

The fact that we're doing hands-on experiments in elementary school, we're trying to get that love of learning started early so they continue that throughout their educational career.

-It feels like we're above grade level because we're doing complicated projects like this.

-How do you get them to stay on the board, huh?

-During these experiments, the students not only get lessons in science... -Yes.

And then you could use these.

-...they also learn valuable life lessons.

-What are some things that you need to remember as a teamwork?

-To not build your own.

-You're not building your own.

-Yeah, let's tie these two together, and then we'll build up from there.

-Yeah, like a square.

-Yeah.

-Teamwork... -Hold it.

-...an important part of the science experiments.

(Keira Jordan)I love science because I get to do the experiments and work together.

-Holy moly!

-Even the littlest Panthers... -Everybody pick up your Teddy bear.

-...like the students in Ms. Morales' kindergarten class, get in on the science fun.

-All right, let's see.

Drop it in your water.

[cheers] -It floats!

-All right, show me what you learned.

-It floats.

-You see the light bulbs go off and the kids are like, Oh, I get it, it's just amazing.

It's-- that is what is great about elementary school kids, especially.

They share that joy in their face.

-It sinks!

-We love science!

-I love science too.

I can tell you that I had so much fun hanging out with these smart students.

Now, as you can tell, we have moved locations and are now inside the multipurpose room where students are being honored for a very special reason.

And joining me now to tell us more is Principal Benizio.

Come on in.

This is exciting.

-Welcome.

-Okay.

What is going on back here?

(Jennifer Benizio) So every year we do an attendance celebration with our kids.

So we try to change it up every year.

Sometimes we do cookie decorating.

We've done popcorn and a movie.

This month, the kids get to design an ornament, and then they're also making a mural that we are going to hang in our cafeteria.

-Okay.

And let's talk about John S. Park Elementary School, a place near and dear to my heart for so many reasons.

This school has been around for many decades.

-Yes.

Actually, it was started in 1943, so we are celebrating 82 years now.

It's very old.

It's one of the older schools at CCSD.

We have-- we're in the downtown area, so we've got a lot of history behind us.

-And let's talk about this school again, what makes it also so very special is the students, your wonderful staff, the teachers.

I had a chance to be in some of those classrooms, and you just feel the love.

-Yes, absolutely.

We feel it from all aspects, right?

My staff is amazing.

Some of them have been here for over 20 years.

So I have staff members that actually went to school here as students, and now they're teaching kids here.

So we do have like from all aspects, but the one thing that we all have in common is we love Park Elementary.

-And let's talk about what other great fun events do you have.

We mentioned we were here part for the Science Rotation Day, but you also have Social Studies Rotation Day.

What happens during that day?

-Yes.

We try to do every month science and social studies, and it just gives the kids an opportunity to do more hands-on projects that they may not get in a typical school day.

-Yeah.

STEAM, very important, right?

-Yes.

-Yea!

I love this school.

Okay, what else do you have going on?

I'm loving that you're gonna have that mural.

I'm loving that you're celebrating your students for perfect attendance.

I was one of those students.

You even have a gameroom.

-We do.

In a couple weeks, we are going to be doing a color run.

And the kids absolutely love that, right?

So they get to throw powder at each other and run around.

So that is getting some physical fitness involved.

That is in a couple weeks, and then we've got some of our promotions and graduation ceremonies.

-Oh, thank you so much.

Like I said, being back here, I'm leaving with a happy heart, with so many wonderful memories.

Thank you so much.

-No problem.

-Well, Nevada state history is an important part of the 4th grade history curriculum, and teachers are always looking for cool ways to engage students.

We caught up with students at Ries Elementary participating in Pioneer Trails Day.

♪♪ (Deanna Garcia) We have a two-week pioneer unit that we do every year, and we study everything from the westward expansion, Lewis and Clark, Oregon Trail, gold rush, the Pony Express, the invention of the telegraph, the Transcontinental Railroad.

So they learn all of that, and we do that every year.

And usually there's a culminating activity at the end that the teachers have to do.

This year, we had a new opportunity, and we could take all the things that we learned in the classroom and bring it to life and actually experience the "day in the life" of a pioneer on the trail.

(Vivienne Schwab)So a pioneer is someone who, like, settled in new land like, for example, the people who took the Oregon Trail in the 1840s to get new land.

(Scout Tatum) It's good to learn about them.

So to see what they were doing in their life, we can appreciate what is happening in our lives.

-It's important to remember a simpler time, a time of opportunity, when people had to start with nothing and build up.

And I think it's rewarding for the kids to get their hands dirty and remember what it was like when we were building this country.

(Linda Bruesch) The inspiration behind the business is really my husband.

My husband is a big history enthusiast, I guess.

And, you know, both of us just having some discussions and wanting to bring something that was so unique that had never been seen or done before.

-Wash your laundry is my favorite thing to do, but it was kind of hard.

-So we have various items that represent things that would be indicative of that time.

So some of the stations that the kids are going to experience, they're going to load and pull a pioneer handcart.

One of the other stations that we have is the branding station.

That station simulates branding of cattle on the Pioneer Trail.

One of the other stations is butter.

So they learn to make and churn butter by using a jar with marbles in it and heavy whipping cream.

And then at the end of the day, usually there's enough butter for the kids to sample.

The other station that we have is the mountain man button.

So they use a hand crank drill to drill a couple holes and make an actual mountain man button that would be similar to what the mountain men made and used for buttons on their jackets and their shirts.

-I couldn't ask for a more perfect activity.

Everything that we've read, everything that we've learned, everything that we've talked about, it's coming to life right here.

So there's no better way to support the learning that happened in the classroom than this Pioneer Trails Day.

-What a cool experience.

And you can learn more about the Pioneer Trails Mobile Museum by contacting Linda at the email address right here on your screen.

Well, as promised--I'm so excited--I have the yearbook photos that I promised you earlier on in the show.

And what a trip down memory lane.

That's me right there.

I attended 3rd through 5th grade.

And check out my wonderful siblings, part of the Silva seven, my brothers, Manny and Bobby, and my sisters, Veronica and Cruz.

Such special memories here at John S. Park Elementary School.

Special thanks to all of our kind and caring teachers back then and now.

Well, that does it for this episode of Student Spotlight.

Thank you to our friends here at John S. Park Elementary School for hosting us and for being such a great school to attend back when I was a kiddo.

And a quick reminder that you can catch this episode and past episodes of Student Spotlight on the Vegas PBS website or YouTube page.

We will see you next month.

♪♪