At Foothills Montessori, the annual school book fair takes on a new meaning

One Henderson school has reimagined the book fair.

Foothills Montessori School’s book fair this month shifted away from the typical event — a staple fundraiser that has commercial publishers and booksellers bringing books and other kid-friendly media to schools — by having a book fair that sold books, games and puzzles donated by school families.

The “Nurture & Bloom” themed event last week in Foothills Montessori’s multipurpose room promoted sustainability, reuse and community connection, said Ale Schwandt, who heads up the school’s finance and operations, and Kelly Stockton-Fiti, a parent-teacher organization mom who chaired the book fair committee.

Stockton-Fiti, who has two children at the school, said Foothills Montessori had previously done the Scholastic Book Fair and wanted to try something new. PTO members looked online and couldn’t quite find the model they had in mind so they made it up themselves by blending the feels of a Scholastic fair and thrifting.

Families and staff from the school of about 300 students donated more than 2,700 books and raised about $5,000 to go back to teachers to build up their classroom libraries.

The book fair was a week-long literary event with immersive, sensory-rich experiences that reflected the Montessori philosophy of hands-on, student-led and self-paced inquiry. Highlights included a cozy reading nook with author readings to younger pupils and poetry workshops for older students, engaging decor made by the kids, and an area where young children could independently explore picture books.

The school followed up this week with Reading Mentor Week, where middle school students read to primary grade children and elementary students enjoyed outdoor reading time.

Stockton-Fiti said this fair was more work than using a third-party partner, but sustainability is a Montessori value.

“In the Montessori philosophy, what we try to do with our kids is to make them good citizens of the world. For example, traditional schools start teaching from the individual – understand yourself, and then understand society, and they take it out from there. We start the opposite way,” Schwandt said. “We start learning about the universe, then the Earth, then the continents, countries and then you. So your perspective is always that you are part of something bigger than you.”

National Merit semifinalists

Seventy-six Clark County School District students from 21 high schools have been selected as 2025 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.

To qualify, students took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test last year. They were among the highest-scoring in Nevada on the PSAT and come from a nationwide pool of more than 1.3 million students.

To become a finalist, each semifinalist, along with their high school, must submit a detailed application providing information about the candidate’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment and honors. They must also have an outstanding academic record, be recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier performance on the qualifying test, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

National Merit Scholars will be named in the spring.

CCSD said it had 19 semifinalists from Clark High School, 13 from Coronado, 10 from Advanced Technologies Academy, nine from West Career and Technical Academy, five from Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, three from Palo Verde, two each from Northwest Career and Technical Academy and Foothill, and one each from Arbor View, Basic, Bonanza, Cimarron-Memorial, College of Southern Nevada High School-West, Desert Oasis, East Career and Technical Academy, Liberty, Mojave, Nevada Learning Academy, Rancho, Spring Valley, Veterans Tribute Career and Technical Academy high schools.

Sun seeking nominations

The Las Vegas Sun and Las Vegas Weekly will celebrate outstanding student heroes across Clark County with our first High School Heroes awards show in December.

We’ll shine the spotlight on remarkable actions of heroism, generosity, selflessness and community commitment among the younger generation.

We need your help telling those stories.

We are seeking nominations of students whose heroic individual acts have made our town a better place.

Some examples: saving someone from drowning; coming to the aid of car-crash victims; standing up for a friend being bullied; helping other students in need; dedication to volunteerism to benefit the community; working to prevent cruelty; and making the lives of others better.

The program additionally will focus on heroic acts through volunteerism with categories such as Environmental Helper of the Year for a project focused on saving the environment, and Cultural Advocate of the Year for the student whose project has a positive effect on at-risk groups.

Nominate your High School Hero through Oct. 7 online.

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