7/27/2020
Education and Outreach
As a young man, Robert Cuccurullo struggled with substance abuse. “It was a tough road there for a while,” says Cuccurullo. But Cuccurullo successfully overcame his substance abuse and at age 41, returned to school to receive a Bachelor of Arts in history and education.
7/20/2020
Education and Outreach
Carolyn Lara, STEM Robotics teacher at Spring Valley High School, didn’t let COVID-19 or the closure of Clark County School District (CCSD) stop her from guiding her students to learn and lead. This is one of many reasons The Smith Center honored Lara as one of the top 20 teachers for its fifth-annual Heart of Education Awards.
7/20/2020
Performances and Artists
The first time Anne Mazzola saw a Las Vegas Philharmonic performance at The Smith Center, it fulfilled her childhood dream of attending a world-class concert. “When the Las Vegas Philharmonic performs at The Smith Center, it’s sheer magic,” says the Vegas resident.
7/16/2020
Education and Outreach
As a band instructor, Mark Nekoba gently pushes his students to improve on their musical abilities, teaching students instruments they never thought they’d play, helping them to read music and identify parts of music. But Nekoba says his emphasis in the classroom is always to teach personal conduct above all else.
7/14/2020
Discovering The Smith Center / Inside the Theater
Despite its ongoing temporary closure, The Smith Center’s campus-wide deep cleaning and disinfecting continues on a daily basis. The Smith Center just gained a cutting-edge tool to prevent the spread of any infection: the Clorox® Total 360® System, which uses an electrostatic sprayer to ensure the even those hard-to-reach, difficult-to-clean areas are properly treated.
7/13/2020
Inside the Theater
Many audience members lose themselves in the pages of their show programs, rife with performance previews and feature articles on artists and theater magic. Little do many know, these Smith Center guests take part in a long and surprising legacy. The history of theater programs — also called playbills — dates back hundreds of years.
7/13/2020
Education and Outreach
Last year, teacher Claudia Ahumada hosted a special birthday party. Instead of accepting presents, she asked friends, family and community members to donate birthday gifts for low-income students at her school, Matt Kelly Elementary School.
7/8/2020
Education and Outreach
Tyler Swick says he likes the idea of breaking the mold. Since founding the music program at Henderson’s Ellis Elementary School just two years ago, Swick has successfully led “outside-the-box” thinking to grow the music club program to involve nearly a quarter of the school’s entire population in music instruction.
7/6/2020
Education and Outreach
When one of Michelle Taylor’s former kindergarten students called her in 2015, she heard fear in his voice. That’s because the young boy’s mother — both of them living in Laramie, Wyoming — was suffering a stroke. “Though his neighbors were home, and his uncle lived an hour away, he called me because of our trusting relationship,” says Taylor, a teacher at Mabel Hoggard Elementary School.
6/30/2020
Supporting the Arts
Ever since Jillian Stewart sparked an interest in theater at age 12, the Vegas resident idolized Broadway and television star Sutton Foster. “I looked up to Sutton Foster, not only for her talent but most importantly for her character,” says Stewart, a student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas whose family supports The Smith Center as donors.