John Fechser/special to vIEWLas Vegas High School at 315 S. 7th St. is shown in this photograph from 1949. The image is featured in the book "Education in the Neon Shadow."
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Two recent publications hold past tales of life in the Clark County School District.
The first, "A Daily Adventure," is a short story within "Wordriver," a literary review that is a compilation of fiction, nonfiction and poetry written by UNLV instructors. In "A Daily Adventure," political science professor Martin Dean Dupalo recalls his childhood spent at and walking home from Thomas Elementary School, 1560 E. Cherokee Lane.
In his tale, Dupalo relates stories of re-selling pretzel sticks on the playground for 10 cents each before leaving to explore his surrounding neighborhood when his school day was finished. Dupalo trekked through Maryland Square regularly and gives the history of his old neighborhood as it was, from a latchkey kid's perspective.
"There's a sort of literary richness you share with people when you talk about history," Dupalo said.
The second publication, "Education in the Neon Shadow," gives a history of the first 50 years of the Clark County School District and was compiled by the archival committee of the school district, with help from the public. The book was published by Stephens Press.
"The book is a really, really good history of how we got started," editor Jami Carpenter said.
Carpenter, who is retired from the school district, was a teacher at then-named Southern Nevada Vocational Technical Center for 10 years and a middle and high school counselor for 19 years. In addition, she headed the public school system's distance education program.
The book, which Carpenter said is close to her heart, took two years to complete.
"It covers how we've made a semblance of order in a really weird place like Las Vegas," Carpenter said.
She said the tome demonstrates the city's rapid growth and transient nature of its residents, in addition to being a place people can look to for historical information on the school system.
"Education in the Neon Shadow" follows the early history of education in Nevada before the consolidation of schools into the Clark County School District in 1956. The book explains the formation of the district and travels in time from its infancy to the present.
The book is complied of oral histories, interviews and research, and it represents the different viewpoints and memories of those involved in its creation.
"What (the archival committee) was finding is a lot of people had stories, but none of them were written down," Carpenter said. "It pulled together a lot of resources. It was quite a process."
To order the journal containing Dupalo's "A Daily Adventure," visit http://wordriverreview.com. "Education in the Neon Shadow" can be purchased at local bookstores or by visiting www.amazon.com.
Contact View education reporter Laura Emerson at lcarroll@viewnews.com or 380-4588.
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