Carson Valley Middle School student Paxton Rasmussen hands one of the Portrait of a Learner flags to Gardnerville Town worker Marc Detwiler on Thursday morning to install in front of the Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center.
Carson Valley Middle School eighth-grader Paxton Rasmussen was helping with connecting as part of the Douglas County School District’s EPIC program.
“It represents our Carson Valley Middle School and shows the community how much we care,” Paxton said.
Rasmussen handed up a couple of the banners he and his schoolmates worked on last spring at the CVIC Hall.
“We are excited to bring our Douglas County School District Portrait of a Learner to the greater Carson Valley community,” said Assistant Director of Education Services Leslie Peters. “We’re letting everybody who drives through town know what education in Douglas County is about — empowering, preparing, inspiring and connecting all of our students.”
Marketing and Communications Director Hailey Sebahar said the school district’s EPIC pages at www.dcsd.net are live.
The site allows residents and parents to learn more about the program that has been in the works since 2019.
Gardnerville Town workers were taking down the Christmas decorations and replacing them with three dozen of the flags designed by students touting Portrait of a Learner and showing students working in the EPIC program.
Gardnerville Town Board members supported the project back in August.
At the meeting, 10-year teacher Alyssa Park said her father, board member Jim, encouraged her to speak.
“School is not just about delivering content,” said the Douglas High graduate. “It’s also about helping to cultivate the social skills (students) need to be successful citizens, teaching them how to set goals and reflect on what works and what doesn’t.”
The town agreed to staff helping with installing the flags.
Town Manager Erik Nilssen said that the flags will be up until the town puts up the flower baskets in late May.