Author: Illiana Banuelos

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…

Darnel is very involved in academics and is a hard worker. He is currently in AP Art History class. Darnel will have 8 AP courses on his transcript and is taking 10 AP exams this year. Darnel is interested in going to school for Art or Interior Design after graduation. According to Darnel, his GPA is unweighted 3.8 and weighted 4.7. He is very smart and a very talented art student. He is currently planning on submitting 3 artwork portfolios for AP 2D, AP Drawing, and AP 3D. Darnel’s extra-curricular activities include Art Club and Key Club.

Max Jensen is a true star in every respect. He is a resilient young man who communicates using facial expressions, sounds, touching tactile symbols and activating communication devices in his proximity. His team of therapists working with him at school each day throughout the years would say he is admired for his persistence in becoming more independent with mobility as well as self-help goals. Max always enjoys being a part of school activities. Max also enjoys being a Rams football fan and pulls for the team all season long! Max’s consistent love from his family is why he is being…

Berlin is Western High School’s nomination for CCSD’s Star Graduate 2022-2023. Her teachers describe her as an absolute joy, a kind student and a team player. She can brighten anyone’s day with her big smile! She is diligent with her studies and always gives her best. Berlin has completed multiple AP (Advanced Placement) courses throughout her high school career, and is now completing Dual Enrollment courses in English and Math. She has also diversified herself by learning two foreign languages, French and Spanish. Berlin is a member of Western’s Guitar Ensemble, which received a unanimous “superior” rating at CCSD’s festival…