Oasis Academy - Bighorn Bulletin

Senior Spotlight: Laynee Diaz

Oasis Academy senior Laynee Diaz, a part of the Bighorn Herd since first grade, is preparing for an exciting future after graduation. She plans to join the Air Force in hopes of becoming an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician. Alongside earning her high school diploma in May, she will also be graduating with her Associate of Science degree from Western Nevada College.

“Being at Oasis has forced me to push myself and learn what real hard work is,” she said. “But it has also brought me countless opportunities and memories I will forever cherish.”

One of her favorite memories was attending the FFA state and national conventions. 

“My FFA experience was everything I could have hoped for, thanks to Ms. Jackie Bogdanowicz,” she said. “I have been given many opportunities such as attending the national convention in Indiana, meeting new people at summer leadership camp, and competing at the state convention. None of this would have been possible without her.”

During her time at Oasis, Diaz was actively involved in Student Council, FFA, National Honor Society, and lacrosse. She served as student body president her junior year and is currently senior class secretary and FFA secretary.

“Always give 110% effort, don't wait to do something until the night it's due, and don't be afraid to ask for help,” she closed.

Magic Playdough Signifies Great Year to Come

There was no shortage of excitement in the first-grade classrooms at the start of school when students gathered for a special activity with a mysterious batch of “magic playdough.” Each student started with a plain ball of white playdough. Teachers explained that the dough might just hold a surprise. Students did not know whether it would change or what vibrant shade might be waiting. As they played each ball slowly transformed, blooming into brilliant hues of purple, red, blue, green, or orange. 

“I love doing this activity to kick off our year together in 1st grade,” teacher Brittany Willbanks said. “Their faces are full of excitement when the magic unfolds and their playdough changes colors.” 

The activity, which blended a bit of mystery with hands-on exploration, served as a welcome to the start of the school year. Teachers noted that beyond the playful moment, the lesson carried a message that every child’s journey will be bright and full of promise.

Second Graders Share One Small Moment

Second graders are learning the building blocks of writing, one sentence at a time. The writing project asked each child to choose a small moment from their life that created a lasting memory and write it down. From there, they added details, sentence by sentence, until their short memory came back to life. 

“For students, one of the most challenging parts about small moment writing is brainstorming to come up with an idea to write about,” said second grade teacher Heather Wiessmer. “For example, they may want to write about a vacation when the small moment of the vacation may be when they found a seashell at the beach.” 

Students were asked to remember things like what they heard, how they felt, the smells, and what they saw to focus their writing and understand the importance of adding ancillary details to a story.

“Once they have gotten their topic down, then the details tend to come much more naturally. Second graders have a lot of details to share, we are working on sharing all those great details on paper,” Wiessmer added. The approach encouraged both creativity and structure, and students shared a variety of moments.

Though the stories may be simple, this is the beginning step for students to start creating bigger essays and reports.