CCSD Cool School News

CCHS - Last week, Churchill County High School hosted its first Churchill Champions Breakfast of the 2025-26 school year, recognizing Emerie Wallace, Laci Peterson, Carter McBee, Scarlett Richards, Anndalyn Smith, Randen Ferguson, and Kimberly Terrill. Churchill Champions is a program to celebrate the amazing actions of students at CCHS. From turning a corner academically to being a positive role model for their peers and helping others in various ways, Churchill Champions celebrates the positivity these students show every day. “The program is meant to recognize students who are doing exceptional work in and out of the classroom to make CCHS a better place,” program coordinator Heather Benjamin said. Throughout the year, teachers, staff, and administrators are invited to nominate students or teams of students who push boundaries of kindness, inspiration, helpfulness, and enthusiasm in their own unique way. Once a month, these students are recognized by their nominating staff member in front of their families and community members with a celebration and a light breakfast to honor their contributions. “Even after the original designers of the program left CCHS, I felt it was important to keep it [Churchill Champions] going. This program helps accentuate the importance of being a positive influence in and out of the classroom and for those students to be recognized for going above and beyond,” Benjamin said. With the help of Laurel Topken, Holly McPherson, and Alicia White and her culinary team, Benjamin hosts an awards ceremony and breakfast every month to personally recognize CCHS Churchill Champions.

CCMS – Students in Robbie Wickware’s classes have been diving into lessons on American history and sports. In seventh-grade U.S. history, students have been learning about the early colonies that helped shape the United States. They mapped and compared the different regions of the American colonies, gaining a deeper understanding of how geography and culture influenced the nation’s beginnings. In sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade sports history, students explored the origins of football, studying how the sport was created, the evolution of its rules, and how it became the modern game it is today. Then, students put theory into practice with a lesson called “Motions of the Game,” where they learned proper techniques for throwing and catching a football.

Numa – Students in Kristina McFadden’s class explored how tectonic plate movement shapes Earth’s surface with a hands-on activity using graham crackers and frosting, an experiment that doubled as a tasty treat. During the lesson, students modeled transform, divergent, and convergent boundaries to see how mountains, valleys, and other landforms are created. This activity supports fourth-grade learning target S.4.1.3 (NGSS standard 4-ESS1-1) using evidence from rock formations and Earth's structure to explain how landscapes change over time. Through this learning activity, students connected scientific concepts to real-world processes in a fun and memorable way. “Science is even sweeter when learning comes to life,” McFadden said.

E.C. Best – This year, in Emma Knapp’s physical education class, students are focusing on teamwork. One favorite activity is the game “Bridge Crossing,” which students play as “the floor is lava.” Throughout the year, students will participate in a variety of games that emphasize working together, including soccer, floor hockey, basketball, and parachute games. These activities help students build cooperation, communication, and problem-solving skills while having fun and staying active.

Lahontan – Last week, students in Jennifer Vasquez’s kindergarten class learned all about pumpkins, including the pumpkin life cycle and the different parts of a pumpkin. Students even got creative as they colored pumpkins, reinforcing their understanding of stems, seeds, pulp, and skin, all while having fun. Through these activities, students connected science concepts to real pumpkins and practiced observation and fine motor skills.