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

♪♪♪ CCSD 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.

♪♪♪ Hello, and welcome to Student Spotlight.

I'm Melinda Malone.

-And I'm Mauricio Marin.

Thanks for joining us.

We have a lot to share with you in the next half hour.

Meet some Desert Pines High School students who produce professional-quality podcasts.

We'll take you inside the popular Radio Production program where communication skills are taken to the next level.

For anybody who doesn't know what's going on, you need to know what's going on.

Come to Desert Pines High School.

It's going down as always.

Then, talk about "on pointe."

How Nevada Ballet Theatre is helping CCSD students fall in love with dance.

Everyone here loves being here, and it's an amazing place for opportunities.

And the big in-person holiday production that pairs students with the pros.

For me, I have dance every day.

So it's a lot of hard work and training, but it pays off.

-Plus we sit down with a high school counselor to learn how they help our students.

Why now is such a critical time for seniors to prepare for college or career.

-But we begin by shining the spotlight on hundreds of CCSD students who are also new to the United States.

The Nevada Refugee School Impact Program helps kids transition to a new country, adjust to a new school and for some, learn a new language.

"Remember we said when you see I-K-E, "we say Ike."

Abigail is in third grade, and her brother Luis is in second.

They moved with their parents to the United States from Uganda and now live here in Las Vegas.

"Twins enjoy a lot of the same things.'

Dad, Bahati Elias.

Ruby Thomas Elementary School has one of the highest numbers of refugee students in the Clark County School District.

Here and all over the District, students and their families can find extra help.

(Cindy Flores) When they arrive I think it's just that shock of being in a new country, so those initial phone calls that we make with a person that speaks their language I think is huge, and then also just seeing faces that look like them and people that speak the languages.

Cindy Flores is with CCSD's English Language Learner Division.

The division brings in tutors and interpreters like Nancy to work with students during and after school.

Many students are learning English along with everything else.

We support them in adjusting to the new schools that they're at.

We support just making sure they are aware of what's expected of them academically, and then also making sure that they are feeling they are settled socially as well.

For families adjusting to a new country, the support is invaluable.

As the goal is to help students like Luis and Abigail live the American dream.

What would you like to be when you grow up?

The program also works with outside agencies that specialize in resettlement to help students and their families adjust to life in the United States.

-American Education Week falls in November.

It's a week to celebrate public education and honor those who work every day to ensure that every student receives a quality education.

So in honor of the special week, we wanted to talk to some future educators about why they want to become teachers.

Joining us now, we have students from Southeast Career and Technical Academy, and it's the Teaching and Training Program.

We have Brisa and Lluvia Resendiz.

They're both sisters.

Welcome, thanks so much for being here today.

(both) Thank you.

-So Lluvia, tell me why you got interested in joining this program.

(Lluvia Resendiz) I was interested because it was new in our school, and I've always wanted to become a teacher.

Ever since I was younger, I would have like notebooks, papers and all that so I've always wanted to.

It's caught my attention.

-And Brisa, tell me what you've learned so far.

Brisa, you're actually a senior, right, so you'll be graduating after this.

So what have you learned so far that you think you'll take with you once you graduate high school?

(Brisa Resendiz) Our program has taught us everything as small as teaching, creating lesson plans, practicing our classroom management.

But most importantly, I think I have learned how to include every student, no matter what, in our classroom.

-Lluvia, when you become a teacher, what are some of the things that you're going to apply in the classroom, things that you've maybe liked, maybe things that you want to change up for the better for your students?

-I would like to include mental health activities.

I feel like every student should feel welcome, and mental health is a great approach.

You know, it helps every student feel like they're valued and welcomed.

-And how about you, one of the things that you will take with you afterward, and what is the subject that you hope to teach?

-I'm hoping to teach math.

Right now we actually started our internships, and I'm teaching third grade.

I understand that elementary school includes all subjects, but I've always been interested in math because a lot of kids don't like it.

I feel like I can make a difference and actually help them like the subject.

-Now, if you had one of your friends at school asking you about the program, they weren't sure whether they should get into it or not, what would you tell them or students watching now?

Why do you think it's so interesting, and what do you think they should know?

-I think they should know that it's not something that you should be forced to do.

It should be something you're passionate about.

I wouldn't force it upon anyone.

I feel like it's something you have to be passionate about, that you would want to do.

So I would tell them if you feel passionate that you want to make a change on the younger generation, then you should join.

-And what subject do you hope to teach?

-Art, elementary.

-And why do you like that?

-I love crafts.

I love engaging with students and just letting them express.

-And how about you?

What are some of the things that you do in your program that allows you to get some hands-on experience or more about the program that lets you learn how teachers do the job?

-Our teachers do a great job at helping us create lesson plans.

So constantly, sometimes once a week, we do lesson plans.

We create our own 10-minute lesson plans.

And then like I previously said, we started our internship, so we actually go to classrooms and get the hands-on learning and everything.

-Now, the program for you, not all schools have this but SECTA does have it.

Do you think it's helped prepare you more for teaching?

Obviously you have your teacher and your focus there.

Once you graduate high school, do you feel you'll have the steps on knowing how to become a teacher?

-Yes.

I'm really thankful for the program because it does genuinely teach you, and it does help you prepare to become a teacher, not just as in you're going to go and teach, but it prepares you as in oh, you're going to also teach with students in the class.

-And what's one thing you've learned to appreciate about your teachers now knowing all the work that goes into what they do before they step into the classroom?

-Honestly, you know, even when we were kids and we'd play "teacher," it's always just having the students there and knowing that they're depending on you to actually help them be successful in that current grade level.

-That's awesome.

And how about for yourself?

You know, one of the things that I've learned working with the School District is just so much work that goes behind everything before the teacher steps into the classroom.

What have you learned from the program that you can think about now that you really appreciate?

-I really appreciate the work that teachers put in, you know.

It takes a long time to come up with something original and creative that helps everyone feel included.

So I really appreciate the time they take to help everyone feel included while being original and creative.

-One last question before we go for each of you.

What is the thing that you've enjoyed so much about the program that's been so unique, that you'll take with you?

-I feel like just getting to know your peers around you, getting to know that everyone's different in their own way, and that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing.

It just helps everyone know why it's important to be just different with everyone.

-How about you, Brisa?

-Personally, knowing that it's in our hands to make a difference.

Yes, we are the future.

You know, kids are the future, and as teachers, we prepare them for the future.

We prepare those future generations.

-Ladies, thank you so much.

Good luck.

I know you're going to be great educators from everything you learned.

Thank you.

-Thanks, Mauricio.

-Now let's kick it over to students at McCaw STEAM Academy in Henderson for our first Student Spotlight Newsbreak.

-Hi.

I'm Bethany, and I'm from McCaw STEAM Academy.

-And I'm Oliver.

We're here with your first Student Spotlight Newsbreak.

-Did you know National School Psychology Week is celebrated in the month of November?

-This year's theme is Let's Get in GEAR.

-GEAR stands for grow, engage, advocate and rise.

-Thank you to all the CCSD school psychologists for helping students all year long.

Our school is a magnet school.

-One of the things that makes McCaw STEAM Academy unique is our creative learning environments.

We have a building nicknamed the "STEAM Wing" because it houses seven amazing STEAM labs that support our learning of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

-These amazing STEAM labs include a life science lab, a physical science lab, an earth and space lab, a virtual reality technology lab, a robotics lab, a fine arts lab and a maker space where we use the engineering design process to solve real-world problems.

-We can't forget our courtyard mine garden and our green screen media room.

Can you tell why we love learning about STEAM at McCaw?

-Thank you for visiting McCaw STEAM Academy and seeing what makes us one of a kind.

We'll now send you back to the studio.

-Thank you, Bethany and Oliver.

Here's a fun fact for you.

Desert Pines High School is the only high school in Nevada with a Radio Production magnet program.

In fact, the radio station even has an FCC license.

While the focus these days is more on podcast, DJing and internet radio, students are learning how to communicate effectively.

(Khaaliq Richard) This is Radio Production if you don't know.

You got Radio Production I, II, III and IV.

Now, each room is like a grade.

You pass I, you go to II.

Now, in I and II, you to talk about the history of radio.

You know, like before my grandma was born, you know what I'm saying?

Like 1928 radio and stuff like that.

And then you talk about the commissions of radio, like the acts.

Now, with III and IV, that's when you get into the technology.

(Aaron Segal) This prepares us not just for the radio program, learning about the history of radio and what exactly radio is, it also helps us with life in the real world.

A lot of us know what we want to do with our future.

I just love doing podcasts, I have two podcasts of my own, and we're just helping everyone do it.

(Gabe Gough) We have a podcast on Spotify called Game Time, and what we do is we talk about the NFL weekly.

So I am almost like color for podcasts, you know.

-There's multiple things.

We're learning how to analyze.

Learning how to analyze stats.

Analyze, you know, we're getting into that.

We're learning our communication skills.

(Mikel Gough) Communication skill is important in any aspect of life.

But being able to talk not only on the radio but television, doing sports broadcasting, even talking as an emcee on a radio station, or doing a DJ gig, if you don't know how to communicate, you can't succeed.

And if you know how to communicate, you have a leg up on a lot of other people.

(Ashia Hughes) Learning about all types of music, audio production, the technical parts of computers and music, producing music.

For my part of the class, we learned how to technically do like host events and basically do the music part.

I also learned how to do the podcasting part.

It takes time to actually develop doing everything, but the podcasting part is you can just talk about things you're interested in.

-My dream is to be a play-by-play announcer for a team or anything like that or have my own show at ESPN.

That's the ultimate dream, and I know that first step starts here.

And knowing I've had the opportunity to start this since my freshman year, it just is really amazing.

-I remember my freshman year I used to hate it.

I was just like, boy, what class is this?

But come to find out three years later, look where I'm at now.

I'm making money, making friends, and I'm going crazy.

-The ideal program is to say I want everybody to be in radio, but no.

I mean, that's just not realistic.

Realistically, I want them to take every piece that I teach them, whether it's communication skills or learning how to edit or maybe do a little advertising here and there, take every little piece that I teach them and use that to gain a better career for themselves.

-You can find out more about the Radio Production program and even find some of the podcasts by going to desertpineshs.org.

-School counselors have a big job and a huge impact on student achievement.

Right now high school counselors in particular are busy helping students transition to the next step, be it military, college or career.

I'm joined today by Nancy Escobedo from Chaparral High School.

Thank you for being here.

-Thank you for having me here.

-So what is something that high school seniors need to know right now?

(Nancy Escobedo) Right now is the time they need to start focusing on what their post-high-school plans are going to be.

So just like you mentioned, military, whether it be college, whether it be going into the workforce, they really need to start thinking about what is it they want to nail down to make sure they're on the right path beginning now.

So getting applications in, talking to recruiters, making sure they're communicating with us to stay on track with graduation plans.

-And for those who are applying for scholarships, do you have any advice for them?

-Yes.

Don't procrastinate, number one.

Making sure that they get those applications in, and I know some of the scholarships can be a little intimidating for some students when it comes to essay expectations or GPA requirements, but I think sometimes kids don't understand there's a lot of scholarships that are out there that don't get applications or don't get used.

So there's a lot of opportunities, and procrastinating is definitely the biggest issue, missing the deadline or, you know, making changes later on during their senior year and not having made time for those applications that they could have potentially received money for.

-For a student who may not be pursuing college right away, what advice do you have for them?

-I always say apply anyway.

We're lucky to have our community college here that provides a variety of different programs and a lot of different services.

So I always say even if college is not in mind right now, apply anyway.

Worst case, you don't go, having completed that application doesn't go to waste anyway.

But if they have other plans, you know, that potentially they may want to pursue, we want to know about those as well.

So we ask them to make sure you're communicating with your counselor so we can get you set up for those right programs.

-Awesome.

And for students who may be going into the workforce or have a career in mind that they may not be pursuing college right away for, what advice do you have?

-So like my school, for example, we're really lucky that we have what's called career technical education programs, CTE.

So a lot of those programs already are teaching the kids those skills they need to get prepared for the workforce, and of course not all of our students are in those programs, so we make sure that we're inviting, you know, potential employers to the campus to speak with the students and show them what opportunities are there.

We have different apprenticeship programs come out as well and speak to the students just so the students know and are aware of what's available to them, to make sure that they understand the skills that are required for that profession and that they feel prepared before they step out of our doors.

-Outstanding.

And we always want our parents involved.

Any advice for parents how they can help or how they can be of service to their children?

-Yes.

Number one, please attend all the events that your student's counselor invites you to.

Being involved is step number one, and it's really helpful because we're able to get information across to them.

And two would just be, you know, ask questions.

That's what counselers are there for, for us to answer those questions, and even if we don't have the answer immediately, we'll get the answer.

We'll find someone that can provide the resources they may be looking for, because sometimes it's not just the student, right?

Sometimes the families need some support as well, so we want to make sure we're available to them.

So just making sure they keep that open communication with us is number one.

-Absolutely.

Those services are so valuable, and we thank you for that.

So say you are that student who does procrastinate, or maybe you're ending your senior year and you just don't know what you want to do next.

What advice do you have?

-Again, keeping in contact with your counselor is number one, and I can just speak from my own personal experience.

I was that student my senior year so I've been there, I've done that, and I realized that having communication with someone that could provide at least some guidance would have been the better option just to make sure that, you know, I'm familiar with what was out there.

So we constantly are making or creating different ways to communicate with our students with class presentations, family events, other ways that we can connect so they understand hey, it's okay if college isn't the option for you.

It's okay if workforce isn't the option necessarily right out of high school.

But there are options so, you know, try to make sure that we provide as much as we can so students are aware of what's available to them.

-Thank you.

This is all valuable information that our students need to know and our parents need to hear.

Thank you very much for all your help today.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Melinda.

Let's head back to McCaw STEAM Academy for another Student Spotlight Newsbreak.

-Hi, I'm Faith from McCaw STEAM Academy.

-And I'm Arnav.

We're here with our second Student Spotlight Newsbreak.

-November is Native American Heritage Month.

-And it's a good time to pay tribute and give respect to the rich history and traditions of Native Americans.

-Vegas PBS has lots of programs that you could watch about the first Americans.

-Remember how we told you McCaw STEAM Academy was a magnet school?

-But did you know that we are a nationally certified demonstration magnet school?

-That's a big deal.

It means that we have been recognized for our innovative curriculum and programs that promote choice, diversity and academic excellence for all students.

-That's it for our school.

Let's send you back to Vegas PBS.

Thanks, Faith and Arnav.

A quick reminder that magnet school applications are now open for next school year.

There are 41 magnet schools in the Clark County School District.

You can learn more about each program at magnet.ccsd.net.

Each magnet school offers specialized learning themes for students who have unique interests.

Applications are open until January 11th.

A lottery will be conducted for programs where there are more qualifying students than available seats.

Right now Nevada Ballet Theatre works with 16 Title One schools in the Clark County School District helping expose students to dance.

Students in the future dance program who excel are then offered scholarships to continue their ballet studies.

We caught up with three of those scholars who will dance alongside pros during this year's production of The Nutcracker.

-My name is Christian de Jesus, and in The Nutcracker, I will be playing the "bear" role.

♪♪♪ When I was in third grade, there was a GO-MOVE-DANCE!

program at my school that they offered, and I signed up for it.

After about one year, I got a scholarship, and I started my ballet training from there.

-I'm Lily Hale, and I dance the roles of "soldier" and "party girl" in The Nutcracker.

When I was little, a little younger than three, my mom would just turn on music, and then I would dance.

She just decided to put me in it just to release my energy.

-My name is Carolina Diaz, and I'm playing the roles of "cousin," "soldier dolls" and "party girl."

My favorite thing about dancing is I can express myself with movement, and I could just like let free and forget about the outside world and just have fun with people that I love and care about.

(Terane Comito) Our program that goes out into the School District really is giving a need that is out there for students that really want to express themselves through the art of dance.

It's something that most elementary schools do not have dance programs, so we really are filling that void.

It's just an incredible program to see these kids excel through, and some actually become professional dancers that were exposed to this program that didn't even know dance existed.

-When I was in elementary school through the program called GO-MOVE-DANCE!

and at first I really-- I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

I just signed up and I danced at my school for around a year, and I won the scholarship and I ended up here.

-It means that my clothes, my shoes, my classes and everything is covered so that I can dance freely without having to worry about any like financial problems or anything.

-It's a way for me to express myself as a person, and it provides me like an escape from things that are outside of the studio.

It's a lot of hard work and training, but it pays off.

You get to see yourself grow, and I think for me, it's really valuable to see that.

-You can learn more about Nevada Ballet Theatre's production of The Nutcracker at the Smith Center and all the incredible work they do in the community at nevadaballet.org.

Before we go, we want to remind everyone about the Districtwide parent or guardian survey.

You can find it online at ccsd.net/survey until Friday, December 17 at 5 p.m.

Answers to the questions will be used to help make improvements to schools and increase parent or guardian engagement.

There are several questions on the survey that are school specific.

Therefore, parents and guardians must enter the child's student ID number and birthdate or the name of the school when completing the survey at ccsd.net/survey.

The survey takes less than five minutes to complete and is accessible on tablets and smartphones.

Remember the responses to surveys cannot be linked to any particular student, parent, guardian or staff member.

To learn more, you can go online or call the number on your screen.

That does it for this edition of Student Spotlight.

-If you know of a student or staff member who you think we should spotlight, please let us know.

They could end up on the program.

Email the CCSD Communications Office at communications@nv.ccsd.net.

-Next month we've got a special show planned featuring musical groups from around the School District.

You won't want to miss it.

We leave you now with more scenes from students at Nevada Ballet Theatre.

-Thanks for watching.

We'll see you next month.

♪♪♪