North Tahoe High students showcase college, career and climate projects; district honors SWEP

North Tahoe High School students and staff presented the board of the Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District with summaries of this year’s college-and-career trips, student support programs, arts projects and a student-led waste-reduction effort, and the district recognized a longtime environmental education partner.

Assistant Principal Jason Fleasock told trustees the school has focused on “college and career ready” experiences, noting ELD students visited Lake Tahoe Community College and other students toured Universal Technical Institute, cosmetology programs in Reno and trade programs at TMCC. Fleasock said SportsMed students attended a symposium at the Golden 1 Center and AP Environmental Science students conducted field research in Blackwood Canyon.

Why it matters: The presentations highlighted hands-on learning tied to pathways that district staff say help students connect classroom work to careers. Trustees commended the school for student engagement and community partnerships.

Students described programs that school leaders said support first-generation college-bound students and build community. “Our GRIT program continues to be an integral part of our commitment to support first generation prospective college students,” said junior Justine Nevarez, describing academic coaching, grade-specific course planning and alumni panels that mentor underclassmen. Students said GRIT also runs seminars and weekend trips and will take college tours this year.

Senior Kainan Burke, from the school’s video production class, described hands-on editing work and said the class uses provided cameras and editing software to build skills he said will help students “even finding jobs.” Eleventh-grader Q Williams, co-president of the art club, said members painted murals in the student bathrooms, logged roughly 40 hours of work on the projects and raised about $700 to fund future activities.

Student leaders from the North Tahoe High Climate Action Club described a waste-audit and subsequent changes. Club president Hannah Asher and peers said they worked with head of food services Kat Saltomorod, district sustainability director Erica Mertens and with SWEP staff to audit lunch waste. The club said the audit showed most waste came from food and single-use disposables; the school added hallway collection carts to expand food-waste capture and switched to reusable plates and silverware in the cafeteria to reduce disposables. “These initiatives expanded food waste collection and the shift to reusables have made a big difference in reducing waste at our school site,” the students said.

The board recognized SWEP — identified in district remarks as a 30-year community partner — for outdoor-education programs including Wonders of Watersheds, Winter Discovery and Sagehen Field Days. A SWEP representative thanked the district for the partnership and described outdoor programming and fundraising that support environmental literacy and equitable access to field experiences.

Trustees praised the students’ presentations for demonstrating school pride and hands-on learning. Superintendent Kramer and multiple trustees urged staff to keep sharing student work with the board and the community.

The presentations were part of the board’s regular “school showcase” portion of its Feb. 19 meeting; no formal board action was taken on the student programs during the presentation.