Author: Illiana Banuelos

Desert Rose is nominating Francisco Guzman as the 2023 Star Graduate from Desert Rose HS. At Desert Rose, we have a unique opportunity for motivated students to get a chance to work hard, plan their path, and graduate with an excellent education. Francisco displayed all of the characteristics of what a CCSD Star Graduate looks like. Showing up with a reason to be at school, planning his path to graduation, and attaining a quality education was a daily occurrence for Francisco Guzman. “Franny” made huge strides in becoming an academically excellent student, and he did so after overcoming several life…

Amrita will be graduating this Fall with her Associate of Science Degree from the College of Southern Nevada in addition to the College and Career Ready Diploma. Amrita’s focus on education runs a very close second to her commitment to her family. She has had a hard path to learning resilience and strength, as her mom tragically died from cancer several years ago after a long battle, during which time, Amrita was one of her primary caregivers. She herself has endured years of debilitating illness, resulting in missed school and social activities. As she continues to process her grief, she…

CSN High School East is proud to present Lexi Osgood as our STAR graduate. Lexi embodies everything CSNHS celebrates in our students. Not only will Lexi graduate from high school with her Associate of Science, she has had to persevere through significant hardship to make that happen. Despite the obstacles and detours life has thrown at her, Lexi has held steadfast to her core beliefs. She values character above all else and is a pillar of kindness, loyalty, and reliability to her friends and cohorts. This year, Lexi serves as the student body secretary and is also a member of…

When Jayden Gude’s mother passed away during his freshman year, his world was shaken. Overwhelmed with grief, he missed half of his 10th-grade year and struggled to put his life back together. Jayden left California for Las Vegas and entered Del Sol Academy as a credit-deficient junior searching for a path forward. He quickly joined the Del Sol Dragons football team and found a sense of belonging. Jayden decided that living his life to the fullest was the greatest way to honor the memory of his mother. Jayden sought out help from his school counselor to make a plan to…

Janelle embodies all that is good about young people today; she is determined, dependable, compassionate, and innovative. As a result of her tenacity, she has developed very clear educational and vocational goals. In an effort to achieve these goals, Janelle has pursued a rigorous college preparatory curriculum. While being proactive in making her goals a reality, Janelle applied to and was accepted at the College of Southern Nevada High School, a competitive dual credit program. Janelle has proven successful in a college environment and is on track to earn an Associate Degree before her high school graduation. Janelle currently serves…

Alissa Pfau is Cimarron-Memorial’s nominee for Clark County School District’s Star Grad for the 2022-2023 school year. Growing up, life dealt Alissa one battle after another. In spite of her tribulations, she rose to the challenge of academic excellence in her Advanced Placement courses. Alissa also has a passion for dance and has a love for the Arts. The qualities of hard work, ambition, consistency, and dedication are ever-present in her character as well as being an active member of CMHS’s World Champion Robotics Team 987. She has dedicated countless hours after school and weekends to help her team succeed.…

Two high school seniors recognized as 59th class of national scholars LAS VEGAS – Clark County School District (CCSD) high school students Amy Park of West Career & Technical Academy and Troy Warren Harris of Ed W. Clark High School were selected for their accomplishments in academics, the arts, and career and technical education fields. “It’s a tremendous honor for two of our CCSD students to be recognized nationally for their academic excellence and leadership in our community,” said CCSD Superintendent Jesus F. Jara. “We are so proud of Ms. Park and Mr. Harris’ educational achievements and leadership, and we…

Brienna is truly an amazing human being. At the age of 11, her heart was attacked by a virus that required her to be put on a ventricular assist device in order to stay alive. She remained on that device for six weeks before a heart was donated to her for a transplant. Since that time, Brienna has not taken one day for granted. She volunteers with many organizations including the Walk for Children’s Heart Foundation, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Ronald McDonald House. Entering high school, Brienna was not going to let anything keep her down. She participated…

Commissioned report provides an outline for future improvements LAS VEGAS – The Clark County School District (CCSD) is reviewing the results of a recent disparity study initiated by the District to improve equity in bidding for contracts. The report indicates District utilization of minority- and woman-owned contracts was on par with availability for prime construction contracts, which was the largest area of District spending during the study period. The report also shows the underutilization of minority- and woman-owned businesses on District goods and services purchases and subcontract opportunities for public works projects. “We commissioned a review of our procurement practices to…

For the past few days, the Clark County School District (CCSD) Police Department has been diligently tracking dozens of reports of vague social media threats. As our educators are aware, these posts can create disruptions on our campuses and the surrounding community. Please know that while police continue working with state and federal agencies to track the origins of these posts, they have determined the threats to be unsubstantiated. Most of the posts are screen-captured and re-shared through social media platforms and contain similar vague threats. CCSD administration and CCSD Police take these threats seriously. As we saw with Friday’s…