Education

Here are the August 2017 students of the month from West Las Vegas Valley Elementary and Middle School: kindergartner Rebeka Baza, first-grader Justin Sandoval, seventh-grader Bowen Hebel, second-grader Luvena Padilla, fourth-grader Angel Gutierre, third-grader Xavier Linker, fifth-grader Vespera Benavidez, sixth-grader Faith Lyon, seventh-graders Serenity Racicot and Alyssa Lucero and eighth-graders Mailynn Griego and Isis Lucero.

Submitted to the Optic

If you have a story to tell about your involvement in the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s, Highlands University wants to hear it.

The New Mexico History Museum chose Las Vegas as one of five communities statewide to participate in the Turn On, Tune In Community Storytelling Project. Highlands is collaborating with the museum on the project.

Submitted to the Optic

Legendary New York City subway graffiti artist Al Díaz told media arts students at New Mexico Highlands to look within when creating art.

“The most authentic art people create is art that reflects your own experiences and what you believe,” said Díaz, whose work is exhibited and collected internationally.

By Gwen Albers, special to the Optic

Being a “rule-breaker” helped Chris Palm survive a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that leveled his Ecuador home with him inside.

A 1992 United World College-USA graduate, Palm said when he attended the international high school, the castle on the Montezuma campus was closed because it needed extensive repairs.