Las vegas real estate

In an effort to deal with teenage pregnancy in the district, Las Vegas public schools have been given a $6,300.00 grant to teach eighth-graders how to say no to sex. The money will be used to fund a program that teaches students only abstinence with any mention of birth control or safe sex is specifically discouraged.

While this approach of teaching abstinence is, to many, unrealistic and it is a fact that many teens can and do become sexually active, the stance is bold. The simple fact is that in order to guarantee not becoming pregnant or becoming infected with a sexually transmitted disease, one must abstain from sex. The abstinence movement among teens is slowly gaining popularity. This is true in Las Vegas schools, as well as on many other school campus.

Students at Las Vegas Public Schools Need Facts to Make Choices

When it comes to matters of sexuality, students need facts so that they can make informed choices. Las Vegas schools believe that students should be reinforced with the advantages of delaying sexual activity. Contraception and disease prevention are parts of additional Las Vegas Schools sex education. Some believe that if this information was provided more strongly to all students, the pregnancy rate for teenage girls might well drop in Las Vegas schools.

Abstinence may be the most desirable choice for students attending Las Vegas Public schools to make, but the fact is that not all students will make that choice. Las Vegas schools still have the option of bringing in guest speakers to talk about other options, but these people will not be paid for their time from the grant money. If Las Vegas Public schools want access to experts who can provide quality information to students, then they should have the funds available to pay them.

Bring in Experts to Speak to Students at Las Vegas Schools

The experts who can give students information about sexuality and the consequences of choices made don’t necessarily have to be public health officials. Hearing statistics is one thing, but having someone come in to the Las Vegas schools to talk about themselves may have a bigger affect students.

Why not have a woman who became a mother as a teen visit Las Vegas schools to talk about the challenges of trying to parent a child when you are still one yourself? It may take some of the glamour out of the idea some young women have that having a baby will give them someone who will love them or make their boyfriend stay with them. In the same vein, let’s have someone who has contracted a sexually transmitted disease visit Las Vegas schools to talk about their experience with being diagnosed and needing to seek treatment. Those speakers are more likely to have an impact on teens than someone saying “Don’t do this.”

In order for students attending Las Vegas schools to make good choices about their own sexuality, they need facts. Adopting a policy of teaching only abstinence ignores the other part of the story. Let’s give them the tools they need to deal with saying “Yes” when they decide they want to.

By: Patricia Hawke

“A Celebration of Progress” Marks the Opening of New Las Vegas School Buildings

This past August, leaders from the Las Vegas Schools gathered at the Cashman Theatre for “A Celebration of Progress.” This was a celebration to mark the opening of nine new schools and one replacement school in the Las Vegas School System. In attendance were officials from Las Vegas Schools, Nevada State officials, community leaders, school principals, and architects. Las Vegas Schools’ “A Celebration of Progress” was hosted by entertainer Clint Holmes.

The event was sponsored by The Council of Educational Facility Planners International; this is the eighth year that the Council of Educational Facility Planners International has sponsored this event. The Council of Educational Facility Planners International is an organization of education and construction professionals that aims to improve the places in which students learn. Various models and renderings of the new facilities were displayed and the students from these new schools created exhibits promoting school spirit. This years keynote speakers were Las Vegas Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Walt Rulffes and Mrs. Ruth Johnson, President of the Clark County School District Board of School Trustees. The Hal Smith Elementary School choir performed, as well as the CP Squires After School All-Stars folkloric dance team.

The new school buildings were constructed to meet Las Vegas Schools’ expanding enrollment that will have around 12,000 new students enroll for the 2006-2007 school year. This influx of new students raises the total number of students in the Las Vegas Schools to over 300,000. The new schools include six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. The replacement school building is also a high school.

At the August 9th “A Celebration of Progress” event Paul Gerner, Associate Superintendent for Facilities, thanked the architectural and construction partners who made the new schools possible. The Las Vegas Schools’ system is expected to continue is substantial growth for many years to come.

Las Vegas School Students Take Part in Youth Leadership Summit

This summer several Las Vegas Schools’ students went to the Youth Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. The Youth Leadership Summit was created through a partnership between The National Council for Community and Education Partnerships and Booz Allen Hamilton. The Youth Leadership Summit is designed to give students an opportunity to participate in educational reform. Students invited to the Youth Leadership Summit were participants in the Las Vegas Schools’ GEAR UP program, which is a national program, intended to increase the number of students who go to and succeed in university and college. Along with participation in the GEAR UP program, students were selected based on their academic performance, leadership roles they take in their schools and recommendations from their principals and teachers. All of the participants from Las Vegas Schools will be seniors in the 2006-2007 school year.

The Youth Leadership Summit included different activities in the areas of teamwork and leadership that encouraged the students to share their own perspectives on how educators should improve student achievement. The suggestions that resulted from the Youth Leadership Summit included: creating information centers that would aid students and families in finding information for postsecondary education and creating peer and adult tutoring and mentoring programs that support middle and high school students.

By: Stacy Andell

The 1930′s were in a way, the birth of Las Vegas. The city wasn’t built in the 30′s, no that’s not the case, but until this time the city really held no place in the minds and eyes of America or the world abroad. It was just a dusty spot of the map that didn’t offer anything that other more well known cities did.

The turning point was when the congress authorized the construction of a new dam. Now knows as Hoover Dam, the originally named Boulder Dam brought thousands of workers to the Las Vegas area & changed Las Vegas’ history forever.

It’s pretty easy to envision. At the time that the dam was built, gambling had be re-legalized. There were thousands of men, away from their families, with disposable pay that they had gotten from their job building this new dam. They had nothing to do at night & were alone, so how better to spend their time than to cruise the strip & spend a few bucks in the casinos?

Of course, this wave of workers left upon completion & the city had to work to find other visitors to fill their hotels and casinos. Luckily, the dam played a part in getting people to the area. Coined the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, the Boulder Dam (now the Hoover), brought droves of tourists into the Las Vegas area. They had to stay somewhere, and Las Vegas was more than happy to accommodate them in their hotels.

Compared to today’s standards, Las Vegas of the 1930′s was still just a spec on the map. Even with all the attention the area received due to the building of the new dam, the number of tourists and people coming to Las Vegas in the 1930′s was nowhere near what it is today or in other eras of its’ history. The 1930′s definitely marked the beginning of the city’s popularity, however, and cannot be overlooked when examining the city’s long and colorful history.

It wasn’t until the 1940′s, during World War II that Las Vegas began to build the reputation that it’s known for today. With the incorporation of some important and well know figures of the time, Las Vegas was able to build on it’s already small fame & bring in loads more attention to start to become what we know it to be today.

In 1941, the El Rancho Vegas was build. This luxurious hotel was build on what’s now known as the South Vegas Strip. It’s founder and owner Bugsy Siegel popularized the hotel with Hollywood celebrities, and it became the destination for many of the time’s big Hollywood names.

The El Rancho was just the start of the booming luxury hotel industry in the city. More and more hotels were opened, each one hoping to outdo it’s competition with lavish amenities. This was the start of Las Vegas’ rise to become the entertainment capital of the world. Throughout the 1940′s Las Vegas was the premier destination for Hollywood stars.

It was this Hollywood connection that made the town shine in the eyes of the public. In addition to the droves of Hollywood elite, there also came the mob connection. This is something that Las Vegas is not proud of today, but well know underground gangsters, such as Siegel, were building more and more hotels in Las Vegas, something that can’t be ignored in its’ history.

These hotels were hosting some of the biggest entertainment names on their stages, making Vegas the entertainment capitol of the world. Big names such as Jimmy Durante, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Bill Robinson, Sonja Henie, and more all contributed to such fame. The 1940′s were the decade that really drove Vega’s fame home to the American public. After this period, Vegas was forever synonymous with fame and glamor in America, something that it pride’s itself on today.

By: Ted Okuda