Students get taste of fame, state’s history at annual parade

Steve Marcus

Jackson Langford, left, 10, as Mark Twain and Theo Thomas, 10, as Kit Carson walk down a red carpet specially laid for the arrival of “famous Nevadans” portrayed by fourth graders Friday at the private Alexander Dawson School in Summerlin.

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Monday, June 8, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Southern Nevada Water Authority general manager Pat Mulroy was there, along with Steve Wynn and Howard Hughes. Multiple incarnations of Elvis Presley were spotted, strolling the red carpet with Dr. Eliza Cook, Greg Maddux and Sarah Winnemucca.

The occasion was the ninth annual parade of famous Nevadans, as portrayed by fourth graders at the private Alexander Dawson School in Summerlin. Students chose the individuals they wanted to research and portray. Fourth grade teachers dressed in all-black ensembles served as event “security,” holding back the throngs of parents and students who lined a specially laid red carpet. The parade was followed by classroom press conferences where the fourth graders answered questions in character.

Claire Mason opted for Mulroy “because I wanted to know how she controls the water.” Archeologist Mark Herrington, who excavated the “Lost City” in the 1920s, was a natural choice for Adam Gelman, because “he dug up lots of interesting old things and he liked Native Americans.”

For at least one student the choice of a famous Nevadan was easy — Jerry Herbst, CEO of Terrible Herbst Inc., was portrayed by his grandson Riley.

Friday’s event was the “culminating event” not just of the project, but of the student’s elementary school careers, said librarian Lynne Reid. The fourth graders move over to Dawson’s middle school campus in the fall.

The project is an example of the school’s creative approach to instruction, said Adam’s mother, Ofra Gelman.

“They put a lot of emphasis on the fun of learning,” Ofra Gelman said. “It’s an incredible school.”

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There were plenty of highs and lows for public education during the 2009 Legislature, but saving Adult Education programs from steep cuts ranks as a particularly sweet victory, said Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City.

The Legislature provides the funding for Adult Ed programs, which last year had more than 22,000 students attending classes through local school districts and satellite sites. Also, more than 5,000 inmates took part in Adult Ed programs in the state’s correctional facilities.

Parnell, chairwoman of the Education Committee, said she was aghast when early in the session Gov. Jim Gibbons proposed cutting Adult Ed’s funding by 17 percent.

“When I sat there in Room 4100 and listened to the whole education budget presented by the governor, the Adult Ed cuts was the one that really affected me the most,” Parnell said.

Given the state’s economic downturn and increased unemployment, the Adult Ed cuts made little sense, Parnell said.

“We have so many people out there who didn’t graduate and need to go back and get their diploma,” Parnell said. “Now is not the time to limit those opportunities.”

Indeed, while K-12 enrollment has stopped growing — and even declined — in much of the state, including Clark County, participation in Adult Ed continues to rise. Rick Rasmussen, the Nevada Education Department’s Adult Ed consultant, said the program is budgeted to receive about $21 million and $22.6 million for the first and second years of the biennium, respectively. That’s up from the $18 million allocated for each year in the governor’s original budget, Rasmussen said. The increase was based on Adult Ed’s five-year growth of 38 percent.

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Graduation season officially kicks off at 9 a.m. today with Southeast Career and Technical Academy’s commencement ceremony at the Orleans Arena.

The event will be broadcast live on Cox Channel 96, as will the Mojave and Foothill high school graduations, which will follow at noon and 3 p.m., respectively. (For a full schedule of graduation events, go to ccsd.net.)

Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy will celebrate its first commencement Friday at the West Las Vegas campus. The graduates will cross a footbridge built to connect two buildings, designated exclusively for the school’s graduates as they make their way to the commencement ceremony. Of the senior class of 34 students, 27 will attend four-year colleges or universities in the fall. The remaining seniors will attend two-year colleges.