Gov. Sandoval Dines with Dayton Students and Community Leaders

Dayton High School’s Culinary Arts class, one of Lyon County School District’s many Career and Education classes, prepared and served an elegant luncheon for Governor Brian Sandoval and area officials and community leaders Wednesday.

Thanking the students, Governor Sandoval said, “I had an opportunity last week to have lunch with former President George W. Bush at the Bellagio in Vegas. This lunch is every bit as good as what is offered at the Bellagio. This was very professional; the service was impeccable. You should be proud. You all have bright futures ahead of you.”

Over a four course meal that began with an artistically presented selection of appetizers including bruschetta, breaded zucchini and stuffed mushrooms and concluded with a chocolate trifle, the Governor talked with local teachers, students, principals, School Trustees, officials and community leaders.

DHS Principal Wayne Workman introduced some of the outstanding students and teachers including DHS teacher Damon Etter, who won the Nevada Association of School Boards’ Innovative Educator of the Year award this school year, DHS senior Erika Garcia who earned a scholarship to Harvard next year, senior Kathie Arias who has been awarded a scholarship to Cornell, and student body president, Haley Johnson, who introduced a bill to the Nevada legislature this year and looks forward to studying political science at UNR next year.

The Governor noted, "I’ve visited over 150 schools in Nevada in the past year, and it’s going to be very hard for me to say I’ve seen a better school than I’ve seen here today.”

Lyon County School Superintendent Caroline McIntosh thanked the Department of Education for their support of Career and Technical Education such as the Culinary Arts class, and congratulated teacher David Palmer on the quality of his Culinary Arts class, saying the class is one of the “jewels of the school district.”

The class even has its own presence online with a page.

Career and Technical Education Provides Path to Employment Skills:
About 30 different CTE classes are offered throughout the Lyon County school district. School Trustee Theo McCormick explained that through the CTE classes, students are able to gain hirable skills, and can earn tuition free college credits while they’re still in school.

He said the district is working hard to expand Career Technical Education, and has already had great success with a diverse group of CTE subjects including Culinary Arts, Web Design, Nursing Assistant, Photography, Computer Applications, Video Productions, Accounting, Construction, Animal Science, Agricultural Science, Welding, Furniture Making, Graphic Design, Geographic Information Systems, and many others.

Lyon Schools Save Money Using Community and School Partnerships
During lunch, director of Healthy Communities Coalition, Christy McGill, talked with the Governor about the successes of community and school partnerships in the Lyon County School District, which has an extraordinarily welcoming attitude toward community volunteers and partners like Healthy Communities.

The nonprofit Coalition, with its local, state and federal partners and volunteers, has worked closely with the schools to bring funding for weekend food programs for students, teen job skills and summer employment programs, food pantry distribution, school gardens, tobacco, alcohol and other drug use prevention education, health fairs with free services, school clubs, field trips, student assistance programs’ staff, graduation coaching programs, student resource banks, suicide and bullying prevention text messaging programs, and staff and parent workshops on subjects such as suicide prevention, early childhood education, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and youth violence prevention. McGill explained that these partnerships make the most efficient use of funding, save money for everyone, and help ensure that students are ready to learn. Photos of some of the partnership projects can be found at www.healthycomm.org

Photo information
Photo 1: Governor Sandoval chats with community members during a luncheon at Dayton High School's culinary arts class yesterday. Pictured here, the Governor talks with Healthy Communities Coalition director Christy McGill and Lyon County School District Trustee John Stevens during lunch.

Photo 2: Governor Sandoval poses with Christy McGill and Freida Carbery of Healthy Communities Coalition during a luncheon at Dayton High School's culinary arts class on Wednesday.

Photo 3: Caption 3: Governor Sandoval poses with students Erika Garcia and Kathie Arias during a luncheon at Dayton High School's culinary arts class yesterday. The two Dayton students have won scholarships to Harvard and Cornell.

Photo 4: Governor Sandoval poses with David Palmer's culinary arts class during a luncheon at Dayton High School yesterday.

Photo 5: Governor Sandoval poses with Dayton High student body president Haley Johnson during a luncheon at Dayton High School's culinary arts class Wednesday.