• Carson Now on Facebook
  • Follow Carson Now on Twitter
  • Follow Carson Now by RSS
  • Follow Carson Now by Email

Senator Square: CHS yearbook staff marks year of award and success

(Editor’s Note: Chowanski is one of three CHS Carneta editors)

Success, lifestyle, memories: All these describe yearbook.

For the 2017-2018 school year, a staff of 47 was dedicated to making a memorable book for others to keep throughout their lives and be passed down through generations; and again the book received the Gallery of Excellence Award, in which the book is used as an example of a successful yearbook in schools and at conferences across the country.

Most people get this book and laugh at the photos of their friends and look for their interviews, but it is rare they look to see who wrote the stories or went to the games and took the photos. This class is not only about catching memories, it makes memories of its own.

Everything is not a smooth ride either as some may think, because there are always scares that give heart attacks.

Hannah De Los Rios, a junior, knew working on the yearbook could get scary when she remembered, “Losing an SD card with all my photos on it.” She added, “I think when things like that happen, it is important to have backups, so now, and with other things, I always have a backup.”

When these mishaps happen, and they always do, students stay after school to finish pages and right the wrongs.

“I think I’ve stayed maybe seven times for three hours after school, so 21 extra hours and counting at home, over 24 extra hours because we all have responsibilities, but some of us do not always fulfill them, so others have to step up and get it done,” said Gaby Avina, a sophomore and one of three editors.

The workload was more than running around and randomly selecting students to interview.

“When I started actually getting into things like photography and helping CHS yearbook adviser Patt Quinn-Davis with everything, it was a lot on my plate and I think I have spent more hours on yearbook than I have on school the past four years,” said CHS Senior Laney Kenison, financial and advertising manager.

Some of the students worked themselves into the ground to get pages in on time and finish a book that many take for granted, though they do it because it is something they love.

This year there were several rough patches, one being the car accident that impacted the community. One of the students, Stefanie Schmidt, was the sports editor in yearbook and a huge help to the staff. When news of the accident reached the class, it threw everyone off, especially the leadership. As the class recovered, they had a lot of catching up to do, but it only made this book that much more special.

The staff are not the only ones working hard though; Quinn-Davis has been the adviser to the Carneta yearbook and The Senators News Magazine for 17 years. She has been in journalism for as long as she can remember, and when she began teaching, when it was her second year, she was pulled into the CHS publications class.

Every year she has a new staff, and some kids stay and know what they are doing while others are brand new and are learning the ropes.

Though the staff is always her favorite part, she said, “What I love is seeing students, some who have no experience, come in and look at me with this face like ‘What have I gotten myself into.’ Then they just start falling into it, and they learn how to go and talk to people who they do not know about subjects they do not know much about and writing these very credible stories in a way they have never had to write before; some of them have never taken photos before and they say, I will try that and they go out, shoot, and come back with these fabulous photos.”

This memorable book is something created with blood, sweat, and tears, but it is worth it to those who love it.

National Credit Union Youth Month Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the National Credit Union Youth Month contest. The contest is sponsored by the Greater Nevada Credit Union branch at CHS during the month of April.

Trevor Young, Ernesto Lamas and Jayson Legott each won a $50 Visa gift card. In addition, GNCU gave $10 Gift of Membership coupons for students who opened a savings account.

Contact Education Branch Coordinator Julie Slocum at 886-1440 or email to jslocum@gncu.net for more information.

Teacher Appreciation Week

May 7-11 is a time to say something positive to all the teachers throughout the Carson City School District who lovingly, kindly, generously, and wholeheartedly educate the amazing students of Carson City.

It is not necessary to offer to purchase a new automobile for them, of course, though this would be nice, too, but the teachers of CCSD, the greatest school district in the nation, a little bit of hyperbole never offended anyone, would definitely burn more brightly than they already do if people took the time to thank them.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes

As a “Thank You” to all the CHS administrators, teachers, and staff, FCA spent their lunchtime in the staff parking lot washing windows.

Ty McMillen believed there would be a great weather day after the rain the night before. He even sent out an email reminding everyone to place a sticky note on the inside of their windshields if they desired to have their car windows washed.

FCA is here, and CHS advisor Ty McMillen makes sure him and student members do their best to bless and serve everyone at CHS.

The Greenhouse Project Mother's Day Sale and Spring Plant Sales

Mother’s Day Plant Sale is May 12 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. There are many vegetable starts, including tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers, as well as petunias and other ornamental plants.

There will also be multiple vendors such as Full Circle Compost and Nevada Monarch Society. Through purchasing, visitors are supporting GP's multi-faceted mission: Feed the hungry of Carson City, provide Urban Agricultural Education, and contribute to the beautification of downtown.

GP is located behind CHS, 1111 North Saliman Road at the south end of campus. To learn more about The Greenhouse Project, go to Facebook or Instagram, CCGreenhouseProject, visit carsoncitygreenhouse.org, or call 600-9530.

Carson City Counts

The website carsoncitycounts.com is still up, running, and has some new resources and up-to-date testing information. The site is designed to provide resources for families to help make math fun at home. There are math apps and games to try, activities to do, and online homework help.

Also posted are math competitions and math camps for students. Events coming up? Advertise them by using the contact option to let everyone know! Happy clicking.

Athletes of the Week

CHS April 30-May 4 Athletic Department’s Athletes of the Week are Zander Smokey for Varsity Boys Golf and Kailee Luschar for Varsity Girls Softball.

These athletes, and all students who participate in school functions through leadership, clubs, and sports, deserve a high level of recognition and congratulations.

Student of the Week

The CHS Student of the Week is Lauren Winne. Lauren is taking a multitude of different classes this year: Graphic Design II, Psychology, Honors English II, Chemistry, World History, Geometry, and Biology.

She is a gentle and compassionate young lady who highly values the many blessings in her life.

Regarding free time, Lauren says, “I really like to hang out with my friends, one of them being Alex Knowlton, go walking downtown with them, and I really like to target practice with my bow and arrows in my backyard.” Congratulations to Lauren Winne for being Student of the Week.

Senior Spotlight

This week’s Senior in the Spotlight is Morgan Nelson. Morgan has a Weighted GPA of 3.7 and is currently taking Honors Government, Advanced Placement English Senior Literature, Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus, and a Banking Internship with Greater Nevada Credit Union.

Morgan is a three-time Academic award recipient and is currently a member of the National Society of High School Scholars and the National Honor Society.

She has also found the time to dedicate herself to the Carson High School swim team for the past four years where she has made both regionals and state.

Morgan will be attending University of Reno Nevada in the fall. She is going to be majoring in Behavioral Analysis and Psychology. Her dream is to become a Social Worker, so that she can help others.

We are so proud of Morgan and all of her accomplishments. We wish her the very best for her future, and we know she will succeed. Congratulations Morgan Nelson!

Phil Brady is an English teacher at CHS.

Top Stories

... or see all stories

While staying at the enchanting Renaissance recently, I had a view of the Truckee River, and a half dozen homeless folks dwelling there on her silent shores. They pretty much kept to themselves until a gregarious gentleman came along with something to eat that he passed out to one after another until they were all up and around on the riverbank, bargaining and trading with what little they had to offer. This was quite possibly their main meal for the day, and they were exhibiting great gladness in celebrating it.

Rabbits are overrunning our property. Initially, it was cute to see tiny bunnies. While cottontails only live 12 to 15 months, they can have two to six litters per year, each with five to six young. They only have a 28-to-29-day gestation period, and females breed again within hours of giving birth.

Going with the theme Intentional Camera Movement, also known as "ICM" in photog nomenclature, local shooters put their camera lenses to the test, producing a number of award-winning pictures for this month's Carson City Photo Club competition.

Carson City Symphony Association’s “Strings in the Summer 2024 - Rhythm & Strings” is a weekly program for string-instrument players of all ages and levels. It meets on Thursdays, from June 20 to August 1 (except July 4), from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. in the Tahoe Room at the Carson City Senior Center, 911 Beverly Drive.

Gusty winds and low humidity Sunday has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Red Flag Warning for Carson City and surrounding counties.

The Class of 2024 was celebrated two weeks ago with a free all-night party hosted by Carson High Safe Grad. This event is only made possible because of the generosity of volunteered time and donated resources made available by the following individuals and organizations (businesses marked by an asterisk).

Here is the Carson City area road report for the week of June 17-23, 2024. Closures and lane restrictions are expected at the following locations due to road and utility work:

On June 6, 2020, Carson City Assistant Sheriff Daniel Gonzales graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA. In a release provided by the FBI, 201 law enforcement officers graduated from the FBI National Academy.

Muscle Powered

Join Muscle Powered for an evening hike of Kings Canyon Waterfall Trail in Carson City at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 19.

Carson City Fire Department and sheriff's deputies were called early Saturday evening to a vehicle that reportedly crashed into the garage of a residence in the 3700 block of Woodside Drive.

After nine months of learning just about every aspect of what makes Carson City tick, 23 members of the Carson City Leadership Class of 2024 graduated on Thursday, June 13.

The Jazz & Beyond festival committee announces that the winner of the 2024 poster and program cover art contest is Carol Foldvary-Anderson. Her design, "More Than Just Jazz!" was selected from six entries to highlight the 21st annual Carson City music festival.

Join the Carson City Library for an author event that hits close to home with the release of Virginia City V. Bonanza: A Tale of Merging Histories, published by Rowman & Littlefield. Written by Monette Bebow-Reinhard, the discussion takes place Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. at the Carson City Library, located at 900 N. Roop St., Carson City.

Attention film lovers and sci-fi film enthusiasts: Prepare to blast off into a world of imagination and creativity with Silver State Storyteller's Moon Rocks Sci-Fi Short Film Competition happening today at the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City.

Carson City eateries will take to the streets at the center of the capital city today, Saturday, June 15 for the 30th Taste of Downtown, a long tradition to benefit the city's shelter for domestic violence victims.

The annual Stewart Father's Day Powwow at the former Stewart Indian Boarding School Campus in Carson City is underway, continuing through Sunday.

Lenny aka Tommy Two-Tone is a handsome long-haired orange kitty with a sweet face and silky soft fur. He likes people and once comfortable with you, he will purr with delight while you pet him.

After several years of set backs due to the economy, the Sierra Flats Affordable Housing project is finally opening with a ribbon cutting July 9, providing 80 new rent controlled units to the capital city.

There are two portions of the project, a building for seniors and a building for family and workforce housing, each containing 40 units.

UNR Extension Master Gardener Community Garden Talks

Join UNR Extension Master Gardeners of Carson City for a night in the garden.

Today is the last day of school, which brings on High School graduation across Lyon County. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office congratulates all of those that are graduating today, and wishes them the best as they enter the workforce, go off to college, join the military or any other adventure they choose to embark on.

The Carson City School District reminds the community that all school offices within the district, with the exception of Carson High School, will be closed from June 17 to August 5. The Carson High School office will be open to help you from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Douglas County is pleased to announce important updates to parking regulations and options for visitors and residents enjoying Zephyr Cove Beach at Lake Tahoe this summer.

For the first time, "No Parking" signs will line both sides of Highway 50 in each direction from the new stoplight installed by the Nevada Department of Transportation at Warrior Way.

Two people have been found dead after the plane they were in crashed in Alpine County, south of Lake Tahoe. On June 13 at approximately 1 a.m., deputies from the Alpine County Sheriff's Office were notified of an overdue aircraft that had left Lodi, Calif. on Wednesday afternoon.

A sixteen-year-old Carson City resident is in custody following a gas station robbery Thursday night.

According to Sheriff Ken Furlong, the robbery occurred at an ExtraMile convenience store and involved a knife.

Here are the votes as of Tuesday, June 13 at 4:40 p.m.

The votes will not be finalized until all mail ballots have been counted. So far, the majority of ballots (5,720) were cast by mail, followed up by early voting (2,171) with the least amount of votes (1,842) cast on Election Day.

We will continue to update results as they come in.

Carson City author Michael K. Falciani, left, receives the ACES High Award from

We have a winner! Dragon Crown Books is pleased to announce that Carson City author Michael K. Falciani is the winner of the inaugural ACES High Award for outstanding contribution to The ACES Anthology 2023.

The Douglas County School Board selected Angelo “Frankie” Alvarado, a Ukiah, Calif. district administrator, as their next superintendent.

This is the third selection for a superintendent, the first of which was John Ramirez Jr., also of California, who had a history of DUI, sexual harassment, hit and run, mismanagement of district funds, and more.

A concert by The Sierra Sweethearts, a Chautauqua of Laura D. Fair, and local author Gregory Crouch are featured as part of the Dangberg Summer Festival in June.

Carson City Friday Family Fun Days is kicking off the 2024 summer season at Mills Park Friday, June 21.

Each Friday, event goers can find either live music or a community movie in the park along with a selection of food trucks. Kids actives include giant Jenga, giant 4-across, giant velcro kick darts, cornhole, bean bag skee ball, chicken fingers, and a selfie spot.

Our Pet of the Week is Tony.Tony is a ten-year-old taking on the world as a blind pup. This senior sweetheart is a great leash walker as he bravely explores new places using his other senses. He’s become quite the fan favorite in Reno and Carson City. This survivor hasn’t let his hurdles overwhelm his sweet personality. His tail is always wagging!