high school

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue recently held ceremonies for the hiring of three new firefighter/paramedics and the promotion of three to the rank of captain. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, ceremonies were small and held at the fire station during their shifts.

Captain/Paramedic Mike Taormina

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) has announced their high school sports schedule for members in their area, including South Tahoe and Truckee High Schools.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty of school reopening schedules, traditional fall sports have moved to Spring 2021. Adjustments to the schedules were voted on by the NIAA Legislative Commission which is comprised of the superintendents of each school in the league.

The new schedule (all have six competitive weeks) for NIAA sanctioned sports:

Winter Season Sports

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County health officials today announced 22 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county, ten of those in the Lake Tahoe region, six in Cameron Park/Shingle Springs/Rescue, and three each in Placerville and El Dorado Hills. Of the new cases, 11 are male, 11 are female, five are under the age of 18, 11 are aged 18-49, and six are aged 50-64.

There were an additional 277 tests for the coronavirus administered.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Twenty-five California students have been named as National Youth and Young Adult Ambassadors by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for demonstrating leadership in fighting tobacco use in their communities.

These young leaders were among 133 youth and young adults from 33 states who participated in the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’ Digital Advocacy Symposium, a five-day online training session focused on building advocacy, communications and leadership skills.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - School Resource Officers, or SROs, have been a recent topic of conversations in the community with some residents questioning the need for an armed officer on South Lake Tahoe campuses.

The word "resource" gives one an insight into their position - a resource for the students, and not only at school. A resource for the parents. A resource for the school district. A resource for the school.

And the job doesn't end there.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in our community, the Lake Tahoe Community College Foundation is hosting its annual Taste of Gold fundraiser as a virtual event this year through July 18. Funds raised from this event support the Lake Tahoe College Promise program that provides up to three years of tuition-free college for eligible students of all ages, a free textbook lending library, and the Lake Tahoe Community College Food Pantry, which provides crucial nutrition and personal hygiene products to LTCC’s neediest students.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - COVID-19 testing will continue in the Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) Physical Education building through the end of July, at a minimum.

The LTCC virus testing site is the only large scale site in El Dorado County after the site at Ponderosa High School in Shingle Springs closed. There has since opened a testing site in El Dorado Hills.

The decision to continue using the facility as a testing site will be made on a month-to-month basis going forward.

Our local dental offices are SUPER HEROS! When COVID-19 shut the world down, it shut our dental offices for about 2.5 months. When they could reopen, they were faced new required PPEs and a shortage trying to get what was needed to reopen. Then there was me, asking them to take my dental assisting students for an externship which requires a minimum of 50 hours spent in the office. Lake Tahoe Community College provided each student with the required PPEs, so it would be less of a hardship for the dental offices to take them.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It was a perfect day, at a perfect location, at a perfect celebration to wrap up what wasn't such a perfect senior year of high school.

On Friday afternoon, one by one, the South Tahoe and Mt. Tallac High School seniors stepped out of their decorated cars amidst cheering from teachers and staff. They sent the students onto the red carpet, down the stairs to more cheering, and dancing, and more red carpet, as they made their way onto a ski lift at Sierra-at-Tahoe.

ZEPHYR COVE, Nev. - The Class of 2020 at George Whittell High School will hold its graduation on Friday, June 19. Since only immediate family members can attend the socially distancing graduation ceremony there will be a parade starting at Kahle Park on Kingsbury Grade at 10:00 a.m. The procession of cars will go along Highway 50 and end up at the Warrior Way high school in Zephyr Cove. Those wanting to cheer the graduates on may do so from along the four-mile route.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It was a long, hard-fought effort to get it done, but the determination of Kathy Haven and a group of dedicated parents in 2006 has brought the two-way immersion (TWI) program at Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD) its first group of 13-year students and graduates.

Starting in 2007, 20 students enrolled in the very first kindergarten TWI class at Bijou Elementary and that group of students will be graduating from South Tahoe High School at the end of the week. They have had 13 years of school taught in both Spanish and English.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The Barton Foundation began accepting applications on June 15 from local nonprofit organizations for this year’s $100,000 Community Health Grant program. Area service groups and organizations that share Barton Health’s commitment to improving community health and well-being are encouraged to apply online at bartonhealth.org/foundation.

Applications will be accepted through June 30, 2020.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - In a graduation season marked by COVID-19 social distancing regulations, high school students across the globe knew the ceremonies marking the end of K-12 school careers would be different than in years past. With daily school work moved online, graduations were moved to a virtual format.

At both South Tahoe High and Mt. Tallac High schools, graduation has been made special by social media acknowledgments, yard signs, and special bags full of gifts.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Clean Tahoe program recently teamed up with Olympic gold medalist, and South Lake Tahoe native, Jamie Anderson to hold an essay contest for local youth.

Anderson was joined by a local teacher and writer to be the judges and read through all of the 30 entries. They said it was a tough choice but they were able to narrow them down to three winners and five honorable mention awards.

The contest winners:

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - If you've been driving through town lately you've most likely noticed the road work on Al Tahoe Boulevard.

After a restriping/lane change pilot project in 2017 that reconfigured two of the four vehicle travel lanes and added buffered bike lanes on Al Tahoe Blvd., the rest of the project has now begun. The project has been years in the making through the planning, funding, public input, and permitting stages.

Although Western Nevada College has delayed its commencement ceremony to honor its 2020 graduation class because of COVID-19, the college is proud to announce and congratulate its list of graduates.

Following the spring semester 2020, 650 students have graduated with 692 degrees and certificates. Eighteen of those were given to residents around Lake Tahoe.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With the Class of 2020 having a graduation experience unlike any in history, parents and faculty are trying to still create a remembrance now that traditional graduation ceremonies are canceled.

For South Tahoe High School (STHS), all 226 graduates received yard/window signs over the past few days. Principal Carline Sinkler, teachers, staff, and other volunteers visited each home in South Lake Tahoe with the signs provided by the Barton Foundation.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Rotary Interact Club at South Tahoe High recently donated $800 to the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

Co-Presidents Dean Kallas and Serena Palaroan sent the check and a letter to the nonprofit tasked with providing temporary care for wildlife, with an explanation of the student-run club and the funds.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - The Douglas County School District has hired a new superintendent to replace the retiring Teri White.

In a unanimous decision, the board voted 7-0 to hire Keith Lewis as the next superintendent. Lewis is the District's current Human Resources executive director. He will start to transition into the position immediately and officially take over when White leaves, sometime this summer.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - El Dorado County officials announced Sunday they will open two appointment-only community sites for COVID-19 testing for any resident wanting to be tested for the virus, one in South Lake Tahoe and the other in Shingle Springs.

These sites follow Governor Newsom's announcement last week to add more than 80 community COVID-19 testing sites across the state, focusing on underserved communities. His goal is to test 60,000 to 80,000 people per day for the virus as the state prepares to reopen.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The line of cars wrapped around the block and down the street in the Al Tahoe neighborhood Friday, all to celebrate a South Lake Tahoe teen's 18th birthday.

With stay-at-home orders in place for both a birthday party and high school graduation, Lisa Calderon had to come up with an idea to make her daughter, Kayla Mason, feel special on her birthday.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With high school seniors missing out on all of the traditional end-of-school activities such as prom and graduation, parents and community members around the globe have been coming up with unique ways to celebrate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In South Lake Tahoe, Baylee Inman decided to help out grads from all schools in Lake Tahoe, including homeschooled students and started a Facebook group Adopt-a-Senior Lake Tahoe to match the students with a gift-giving angel.

STATELINE, Nev. - Due to the catastrophic impact of COVID-19, the Rotary Club of Tahoe-Douglas announced its immediate initial commitment and disbursement of $20,000 in cash grants to four South Lake Tahoe Community proactive support agencies - Tahoe Magic, Christmas Cheer, Giving Angels and Bread & Broth.

The club has been serving the South Shore community since 1965 and just completed an online auction in lieu of their normal annual St. Patrick's Day Celebration.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Students enrolled at Marcia Sarosik Dance Studio in South Lake Tahoe cannot attend classes in person due to coronavirus restrictions, but they are still enjoying their love of dance with online dance classes.

Marcia Sarosik, better known as Ms. Marcia, has been teaching dance in the community for 41 years and this is the first time she's had to close the studio for an extended period. One of her former students, Chelsea Wightman, created a program for dancers to log onto to stay connected to the studio on James Avenue.