During a virtual meeting held last week, the Churchill Community Coalition Executive Director, Mary Beth Chamberlain, named Churchill County High School Special Education Teacher, Sara McCowan, as a Community Champion for her work with CCHS students. McGowan was recognized for going above and beyond the regular demands of a teacher through her involvement in local and state committees as well as her exemplary work to establish opportunities for real world application of skills she teaches in the classroom.
McGowan created a recycling program for her students to teach them the value of renewable products. Throughout the project, students practiced time management and used communication skills to involve other teachers and students in the project and complete the necessary activities. More recently, she setup a store/cafe at the high school where her students stock supplies, prepare orders, deliver items to staff, make change, and complete the bookwork involved with this type of operation. She is also in the process of establishing a volunteer club for students, scheduled to kick off after the first of the year. The Coalition proudly thanked her for her dedication to the students of our community.
Chamberlain also recognized Trooper Daniel Anderson and Trooper Tony Bake of the Nevada Highway Patrol as Community Champions. According to Chamberlain, the pair was responsible for training all state troopers assigned to rural Nevada. Additionally, they can often be seen volunteering at various local events, supporting their community on their own time.
Sheriff Richard Hickox was also recognized as a Champion for his work with the prescription drug take back program over the past three years. He is also a steadfast supporter of the Coalition and their many activities. “The care he has for community and his professionalism are greatly appreciated by the Coalition,” stated Chamberlain.
Coalition Board Chairman, Steve Russell, praised the Churchill County School District for their valiant efforts through a most difficult time. The Coalition acknowledged the extra steps staff and teachers have gone through this school year to ensure students received the support they needed. CCSD staff also work hard to help students have positive experiences as they tried to continue their education amidst the chaos caused by the pandemic. Russell commended the school district’s hard work, stating, “This trying time has been faced by the whole district with much admirable effort.”
Last but not least, Russell recognized Banner Churchill Community Hospital as a Community Champion. Russell stated that Banner has always supported the Coalition, but this year has brought a new level of support to the community. A huge “thank you” was expressed by the Coalition to Banner and their entire staff.
Unfortunately, due to the requirement for a virtual meeting, awards are being delivered to the award recipients by staff members.
In other Coalition business:
Board members elected Pastor Dawn Blundell to fill an open position on the board. The Too Good for Drugs and Mindful Youth programs being shared with students throughout the district are seeing great success, with grades first, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth seeing the most success.
The Coalition is participating in a partnership between UNLV, the Native Minority Health and Equity Coalition, and members of the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe to increase prevention education and decrease the spread of COVID among our Native population.
Coalition staff recently was certified in Psychological First Aid as mental health continues to impact many throughout the community.
Upcoming Coalition events:
Mental Health First Aid Training – The training is scheduled for February with the date to be announced. Limited to 20 participants, the event will be held via Zoom. Anyone interested in attending, please contact Mary Beth Chamberlain at [email protected].
Golf tournament – With the success of the first golf tournament, it was announced that the 2nd Annual Golf Tournament will be on April 17, 2021. If some lucky individual should get a hole-in-one on the second hole, Fallon Toyota will be donating a car. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor can contact [email protected].
Free Public Health Cannabis & Vaping Summit – Scheduled for January 12-14, 2021, this virtual summit will offer Continuing Education Units on the topic of cannabis and vaping.
Nevada Department of Veterans Services – Eduardo Martinez announced that the department will be offering a webinar on the launching of the program Heroes for Heroes, a program that connects with older veterans for extra support.
Other news:
The Fallon Hub is working on putting together a cookbook that has ways to prepare more nutritional meals on a limited budget and cooking tips on how to prepare various vegetables. These will be available sometime in the future.
After school programs – Anyone interested in helping support the local afterschool programs to is encouraged to contact the Coalition. According to Russell, these programs are often running for 10 ½ to 11 hours a day and they could use any support the community can supply.
New Frontier will be putting Christmas dinner boxes together this year, which will be a ham dinner with all the fixings. If there is anyone needing support this holiday, they can contact Lana Robards at New Frontier.
The Coalition’s top priority remains substance prevention, but they strive to support the community in multiple ways. They are a grant funded organization and gladly accept support from local residents.
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