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

60 is the fifth largest school district in the nation, with student success as its number one goal.

Join us as we meet student go getters and goal setters.

And discover their skills, talents and drive.

Plus, meet the incredible.

Staff who are helping students shine.

It's all here.

In student spotlight.

Hi, everyone, and welcome to Student Spotlight.

I'm Melinda malone.

And in Mogadishu, Marion, we have a lot to share with you in the next half hour tag along with nearly 1000 students from around the Clark County School District as they learn more about careers in construction.

Then take a tour through the district's new Family Support Center here, how it's helping students and their families transition to life in a new country.

Plus, we caught up with two of the school district's 78 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.

Learn more about this honor.

And Pickleball.

The popular sport makes its debut at a Valley Elementary school.

Thanks to a generous donation.

But first, the Clark County School District just achieved an ambitious goal of installing instant alert systems.

In every single case school that's more than 360 schools.

The new tool provides an extra layer of security to help students and staff feel safe on campus.

Now, we went to Spring Valley High School to see how the system works.

Spring Valley High School Principal Tara Powell always has safety top of mind.

In order for students to be able to learn, they need to feel safe.

Physical safety, emotional safety, and our educators need to feel safe as well.

With more than 2700 students and nearly 200 staff members on campus, she welcomes a new tool on her campus that helps in the event of an emergency.

It's an instant alert system called Sante Checks.

What it does is it alerts the administration at the site, as well as Clark County School District Police Department.

If there's an issue on that.

Site by the end of November, every single county school and department office will have it installed.

It's another layer of safety that can be initiated by staff members on top of the current security measures already in place.

So we started with the single point of entry.

We've gone to visitor management.

We've gone now to these devices that teachers and staff members can wear that work inside as well as outside to.

If if an incident occurs and the instant alert system is initiated, it tells authorities where to go.

So help arrives faster for Principal Powell, who has children of her own.

The system helps provide a bit more peace of mind.

I'm a parent and a principal, so I wear both of those hats.

So I know how important it is for me to feel safe about my children being in school.

And I want to treat all the children here at Spring Valley High School like they were my own child.

School safety is always on the minds of district leadership.

We're joined by students who are part of the superintendent's student advisory committee.

They regularly discuss important school topics like school safety.

Thank you for joining us.

I know you're busy this time of year.

Do me a favor.

Introduce yourself, your name and what school you go to.

Hi, I'm Ella.

I'm from Bonanza High School.

Welcome.

Hi.

I'm here, and I'm from Central Memorial High School.

I'm Kiara.

I'm from Del Sol High School.

I'm klutzy and I'm from Desert Oasis High School.

Hello.

I'm Alexis Marotta, and I'm from Liberty High School.

Well, welcome.

Thank you so much for being here.

I want to start with you.

Is school safety something you talk about with your friends?

What's that discussion like?

Yeah.

I think it's one of the biggest concerns among students today, especially in an environment that's very prone to the violence.

And, you know, it's just being mindful and what's going on, what's happening in our school and our environment.

So thank you.

Yeah.

It's important to note students are top talking about this discussion are here.

When you're at school, how do you work to keep safety in mind?

I know, you know, hallways can get busy sometimes you go somewhere, you go every single day.

How do you keep safety?

Yeah, absolutely.

During the school day, I try and abide by all the rules, all the safety procedures, all the all the laws that we have pretty much implied in the school so that everyone is safe.

And in case of emergencies, we all know what to do in that kind of situation.

That's right.

You guys do a number of things.

I believe you have several drills throughout the school year.

Kiara, are there recent safety upgrades that you've noticed at the schools?

Do you do you feel like they're making a difference to make sure you're feeling safer at school?

I definitely do notice some of those upgrades.

For example, we have our school IDs visible.

Every staff member and every student has to have them visible.

We have a single entrance and specifically for my school.

I've noticed a lot of police on campus lately, a lot more.

So that really helps.

That's so important.

I believe there's over 180 police officers with the Clark County School District.

We're very lucky to be able to have our own police department.

Next question I was hoping to ask.

How important is it for teachers or staff members of police officers that we talked about to be able to build those relationships?

Is that the starting point when it comes to school safety?

I think it is.

I think it's very important that our police officers and the adults on campus make sure that our students feel safe at my school.

One of our officers, Officer Harris, has actually really been trying to build that relationship between himself and the students.

We have Instagram page for him.

It's called Officers and CO, and he posts himself.

Our students have football games and at our events.

So I think it's very important that that those on campus do that because it does make our students feel safe and it makes our students feel welcome.

Yeah, that's wonderful.

A presence right there.

Someone that, you know, you can talk to.

Sometimes people are a little bit more shy.

Alexis, are you familiar with Safe Voice?

How effective do you think it is?

For those who don't know, Safe Voice is something that people can report anonymously online.

Yes, I am familiar with Safe Voice, and I think it's a very good tool for our schools, especially because it provides an outlet for students that might not have someone that they are able to trust and go to to tell them about concerns they might have.

And even like whether it's one student using it or a hundred students using it, it's still there.

And they know that they're able to go there because it could also be hard for students to go to someone and report something.

But with Safe Voice, it's anonymous.

And it allows them to really just say what they want and get it out there.

Yeah, it's a crucial to some things tool that we've had just in the last couple of years now that we fortunately have at Ella all kind of access to the group right now.

But how do you kind of see your role as a student when it comes to safety at school?

I think just being that role model following safety procedures, I think that's when it's the most effective when you're showcasing that to other students.

Yeah.

How about yourself?

Yeah, absolutely.

I myself am a part of the robotics team, so safety is something that's always at the top of our minds.

I always try to reinforce and encourage students to try and follow the rules so that we know that everyone is safe and ensured.

Kiara.

Your thoughts?

I try to be respectful to everybody because I know that sometimes being disrespectful or not being mindful of other people can cause some students to be provoked, provoked, and that causes like a violation of school safety.

So I try to be a good person to everyone I meet, just so that we don't have that problem.

How about yourself?

I just think as leaders, being that liaison between our students and the adults on campus and just making sure that everyone is kind of aware of the situations that both they're going through so that our teachers feel safe and that students feel safe, and that those discussions are being held.

Well, any last thoughts, Alexis?

I think it's really important for us students to like, just make sure that everyone, our school feels included as well and just being have an inclusive school just be is able to build a strong school culture and everyone's able to be seen.

And I think that helps promote just like a strong community with everyone and just helps keep our school safer.

Well, thank you so much.

Of course, you know, this is an important topic.

It's wonderful to hear from students themselves.

Obviously, our schools, we're here to serve our students to make sure you feel safe.

So that ultimately you can learn and succeed.

And it sounds like every single one of you folks are doing a great job.

Best of luck to you and your future.

And thank you so much for your time for participating in this today.

And of course, folks are, you know, safety is top of mind for the school district.

To learn more about that, go to our kids dot net.

Melinda, back to you.

Thanks, Mauricio.

Coming up, we'll take you to a huge event where nearly 1060 students learn about careers in construction.

But for now, we'll head to Clark High School for our first news break.

Hello, I'm Cameron.

Welcome to Clark High School.

Home of the Chargers.

And I'm KC, and this is our first newsbreak.

This news break is all about awards and recognitions.

Do you know a teacher who goes above and beyond?

You can nominate that teacher for the annual Heart of Education Awards at the Smith Center.

Nominations can be made from anyone in the community, including parents, students, principals and even other teachers.

Nominations are due by January 13th.

To learn more, visit the heart of education dot org.

1160 schools were recently honored because of their success in helping students enroll in college.

Great schools dot org.

Selected the schools on your screen for its annual College Success Award.

The award recognizes and celebrates high schools that excel at preparing students for college and ultimately careers.

Congratulations to all of the students and staff at these 60 schools.

Our school has 33 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.

You heard that right.

33 semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record.

Be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and have good scores on all of the qualifying tests.

Semifinalists represent the top point 5% of the state senior students.

When we come back, you'll learn a lot more about our school.

But for now, back to the Vegas PBS studios.

Thank you.

Cameron and Casey being named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist is a big deal.

It's a resumé builder and allows students to earn scholarships.

This year, 7860 students from around the district earned the honor of semifinalist.

We caught up with two of them.

Hi, I'm Sanjana Dixit.

And I'm a senior at Clark High School.

I'm Antonio, man, and I'm a senior at Green Valley High School.

Meet two of 1678 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist, an elite group of high school students who score in the top 1% on the PSAT nationwide.

Once you receive that qualifying test score, you can move through the application and become a finalist.

But to get there, you have to take that initial first test.

In addition to her coursework in the magnet program at Clark, Sanjana serves as a state president for the Nevada Future Business Leaders of America.

So I decided to focus on business and family and DECA, and I definitely think that's benefited me because I've been able to do well in those fields, and then everyone who pursues their passion ends up doing well.

Financially and go for stronger leadership.

We caught up with Antonio at Green Valley Learning Chinese.

I felt pretty excited that I was able to get the semifinalist because scholarship means probably college loans would be a lot easier to deal with.

So that made me very happy.

Antonio plans on attending college to further his studies.

After I graduated at Green Valley, I hope to be doing material science engineering.

Also hope to do some economics.

As does Sanjana.

Like, I've toured a couple of schools, so I know the kind of campus I like and the cities that I like.

So now it's just a matter of getting in.

We can't wait to see what the future holds for both.

To learn more about the National Merit Scholarship Program, visit National Merit dot org.

We'll list the names of every single 60 semifinalists for this year at the end of the show.

Now is the time when students are thinking about their future, which is why nearly 1000 students were invited to the College of Southern Nevada Cheyenne campus to learn more about careers in construction.

So we're here to introduce what construction is all about and the different careers opportunities that they have.

I'm Anne Barnette.

I'm the CEO of the Nevada Contractors Association.

So today we're hosting our annual construction career day, and we are featuring over a thousand students here with over 80 vendors today that come from the construction industry.

I just thought it'd be cool to see what's out there.

And besides, you know, the regular doctors and, you know, business just to see what's out here.

I'm learning, like, what you can do.

I can I'm learning where I can go to get help or learn stuff and just contractors, employees, stuff like that.

I am having a good time.

My name's John Filippi, project development manager for McCarthy Building Companies.

As we continue to grow our business, things are getting built bigger, faster and greater value.

And because of all those things, we need more people both in the engineering and construction fields, but also on the trade side.

We have an aging workforce and we need to replace that workforce.

I'm learning a lot about like civil engineering and architecture, things that I want to go into in careers and I'm looking at and just kind of what those careers involve and how to get into those careers.

Interesting me because I can get started early and see what I like instead of waiting until later.

And it's exciting.

It's exciting to introduce it to those students and see their faces come alive and and say, Wow, this is an opportunity for me to take.

Looks like a fun day.

60 offers programs in construction technology at several high schools.

In fact, construction technology will be one of the programs that the soon to open Career and Technical Academy in North Las Vegas.

The new CTA in the northeast part of the valley, is still under construction.

But as I found out, the principals already working to welcome students for next school year.

We're going to.

Offer ten programs here at the Career Tech in North Las Vegas.

Three of them are unique to this school.

So the only place you can find these programs are at this school.

One of them is logistics, clean energy.

And we're going to train the future social workers for our community.

RYAN Claudia has been named the principal of this brand.

New career in Technical.

Academy and for good reason.

He is the district's 2022 school administrator of the year.

He most recently served as principal at East Career and Technical Academy, which is currently Magnet School of the Year.

That means it is the best magnet school in the country.

So what does he want prospective students to know?

They're going to be the first students to the door, the first graduates, the first alumni.

This is a special place and a once in a lifetime opportunity for them to build a school with me from the ground up.

Opening a new school is a special honor.

And Jim Moore, the district director of college and career readiness and school choice, says it will help offer more options focused on student achievement.

I think our magnet schools offer students innovative choice options that really speak to their interests.

And the goal of our programs are to really help develop our students strengths and talents and abilities.

As for Principal Claudia, he's ready to serve the community while the school is coming to life in.

North Las Vegas as needed this for a long time.

And I'm happy to be a small part of this puzzle and create a great school.

The new CTA will accept 1000 students for the 2020 223 school year.

The first school year will start with freshman and sophomore students.

A quick reminder that students wanting to attend a career and technical academy or a magnet program can apply starting now for the upcoming school year.

Applications must be submitted by January 10th.

You can learn more about all of this choice options CCSD has to offer online at magnet dot 60 dot net.

Speaking of magnet schools, Clark High School is home to an award winning magnet school.

Let's check back in with Casey and Carmen for our second news break to learn more about some of the programs at Clark.

Hi, I'm Casey again from Clark High School.

Hello, I'm Cameron again.

And welcome back to our second news break.

Our high school is both a comprehensive high school and home to some nationally recognized magnet programs.

We are a part of Clark's video production CTE program.

We have the opportunity to train for a career in the video production industry and create all of the films media you see at Clark.

From the news to the Football Highlights.

At Clark, we offer ten different career and technical education programs.

We have students training to be electricians, medical assistance, accountants, teachers and more.

We even send students to Desert Rose Technical Center each day to train for future careers in welding, manufacturing and the construction industry.

At Clark High School, you can prepare for the career of your dreams today.

Thank you so much for visiting Clark High School.

Now we'll send you back to the Vegas studio.

Thank you, Casey and Cameron.

According to the governor's office for New Americans, 600,000 immigrants and refugees call Nevada home.

But moving to a new country is challenging, not knowing the language, while also learning to navigate a new city and school.

It can be difficult.

A new program by the school district aims to help the new Family Support Center, works to provide support for newcomer students and their families.

Welcome to the Family Support Center.

Come on in.

Family Support Center director Cindy Flores takes us on a tour of the brand new facility, a first of its kind facility to help build a strong community to support students and families as a transition to life in Nevada.

Well, I can tell you, just in my own experience with my family, having come to this country many years ago, that it's that's a lot all at once.

Right.

Not only are you coming to a new country, but you're also learning a new language, learning how to navigate a whole new system when it comes to the city itself, the school system.

So it's important to have a place like this because we want our families to be successful.

Families like the Papas who came to the United States from Afghanistan.

Sarah now attends Bonanza High School.

Why don't you begin about bullying.

And back there in Afghanistan?

I need to say that the Afghani students, boys and girls, very starting in divorce situation.

And one of my goals to come to the United States was to continue my education and gain achievement and to be a good person for society and the United States.

But the band girl, while.

Sara's mom, Aisha, has three children in the Clark County School District and she's found help through the center.

My biggest theory, I guess I am grateful from the time we came here is that help us so much.

And we received full support from the center.

They helped us and supported us so much.

What would take a month to a week and what could take a week?

They did it for us in a half day.

They know about M.O., Carlos Gadahn.

English as a second language for approximately 47,000 students, the Clark County School District, about 95% speak Spanish.

But we do have other languages, for example, Tagalog, Chinese, and then some of our refugee languages, you know, from Iraq, you know, Africa, etc., that, you know, we need to ensure that our families understand and know and know that they're supported and they're able to support their child and receive the information in their first language so that they can make the right decisions.

And that's what the Family Support Center offers everything from interpreters to assistance with school supplies, access to career counselors, wraparound services, anything a new family to the United States may need to succeed in a new school system and country.

Walk over to one of our classrooms.

I think the importance of it is just the ease of it.

We want our families to know that there's one place that they can go to for all the support that they need.

And if we don't have the services here, we will try to bring those services here to support them.

The Family Support Center is located on Maryland Parkway across the street from Global Community High School.

Their new location and the new Central Tactical Training Academy.

Just a few blocks north of those new facilities.

More than 500 students from around the school district sold veggies and other goods at the country's largest student run farmer's market in October.

In total, students raise more than $11,000 for school gardens and hydroponic programs by selling produce at the farmer's market.

Students created their very first business and gained financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills.

The nonprofit Green Our Planet hosted the event and helped students grow gardens at 60 schools around the valley, a sport that is skyrocketing in popularity around the country.

Has kids in southern Nevada hitting the court.

And 160 school got a helping hand, introducing the game of pickleball to elementary school students.

Brian Callahan, Texas.

To our gills.

Great elementary school where professional players gave students their first lessons.

Students at our Guild Great Elementary School took a break from the classroom to learn about a game that's growing in popularity across the country.

I played tennis and ping pong for and I think it was really fun.

The Professional Pickleball Association donated about $3,000 worth of equipment to help introduce students to the game and for their first lessons.

Students had a familiar teacher in Principal Christina Fitch and her friends with the Southern Nevada Pickleball Association.

It's for health and wellness.

As for our minds, it's really being able to bring the kids together and say, we can do really fun things outside.

We're so set right now in our technology way, but really bringing that physical aspect back in, that's what really makes our, you know, our minds healthy.

The students spent the morning getting lessons on all aspects of the game from how to serve them to how to volley, and most importantly, how to have fun.

My favorite part it's like playing the game or actually playing the game.

It's really fun.

Maybe volleyball was the hardest part at the same time.

What's your favorite part about Pickleball.

That I get of people on my own?

For fifth graders like Raymond Dana, the professionals weren't just instructors.

Their future competition on the court.

The professional that we saw earlier.

You want to beat the professional?

How much practicing did you have to do to get to where you can beat the professional?

About a week while the students are learning how to play a fun game and get a good workout in the principal says it helps develop their social skills as well and is something the school's PE teacher will be incorporating into lessons throughout the year.

It's it's really a phenomenal activity to really build that teamwork and communication and those skills for students.

That does it for this edition of Student Spotlight.

You'll definitely want to join us for next month's show.

It will feature musical performances from students throughout the district, showcasing their favorite holiday songs and performances.

You won't want to miss that.

And a reminder that you can watch this episode and past episodes of Student Spotlight on the Vegas PBS website.

But for now, we'll leave you with a new student produced segment by the Vegas PBS Media Crew called In Our Opinion.

We'll see you next month.

Hi.

My name is E.J.

and this is, in our opinion.

King David isn't here with me right now, but we went to Silverado High School to interview two students like Michael, who a part of the Silverado football team, and Raven, who is an early grad student.

We interview them to get their opinions on self-help and stress.

Did you have to, like, adapt to new ways to cope with stress?

I did, because obviously we didn't have football, so I didn't have like that outlet.

So I to like really realize that most of the problems I was having weren't really as big as they seem because like, you know, going to a global pandemic, like it's life changing.

COVID brought a lot of stress in many people's lives, and a lot of people had to adapt to new ways of blowing off steam.

Blake began to share his ways that he'd really stress through COVID music, writing in a journal.

I did some exercise and spending time with my family was a big one.

So like out of those like what, four or five?

What do you think?

Like really helped you the most?

Honestly, probably spending time with my family and getting to know them more than just being like my brother, my mom.

But like as a person where they're like specific emotions that you go to music for.

I would go to music when I was sad, but it also would be there when I was happy.

Like, I have certain songs in my head that I could associate with, like a certain event or a certain time period.

While cover was a hard time for all this school, but more of a stress on the students, most students motives when it comes to school are different from the other.

That led us to ask where were her motives were?

What motivates you to come to school more your grades or your friends?

What would you say?

Oh, my grades.

So I don't, you know, disappoint my parents.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think it's more for my parents than for myself or my friends.

I feel like a lot of kids, it doesn't matter where they're from or what they are, as long as they have that kind of parental pressure, they feel like they have a need to somewhat please them in a way for, you know, taking care of them as a way of paying them back.

Rae began to talk about her friends and how they helped her get through school.

Friends are a key part of high school, but can they be considered a coping mechanism for stress?

It is the most basic coping mechanism, in my opinion.

Even though you have your friends to talk to and such, it's better to talk to yourself first and know what you acknowledge because sometimes your friend's input can damage how you run.

Thank you so much, Blake and Rae for sharing your opinion.

We can all relate to the stress that comes from not only school but in life in general.

So always make sure to seek help to relieve that stress in the healthiest way possible.

My name is E.J., and this has been, in our opinion.