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CARSON CITY – Lisa Cano Burkhead said sacrifices made by her migrant parents came proudly to caput erstwhile she learned she would go Nevada’s 36th lieutenant governor.
“I paused to retrieve each the sacrifices that my parents had made to marque the American imagination hap for their kids,” Cano Burkhead, a just-retired Clark County precocious schoolhouse principal, said successful an interrogation Tuesday. “It was a beauteous affectional moment. It’s genuinely the top grant of my life.”
Her assignment by Gov. Steve Sisolak volition go authoritative Thursday with events successful Las Vegas and Carson City. She succeeds Kate Marshall, who stepped down in September to articulation President Joe Biden’s medication arsenic a elder liaison to authorities governors, and says she plans to tally for the presumption successful 2022.
Her parent and father, from Paraguay and Argentina, respectively, arrived successful Las Vegas successful 1965 with simple schoolhouse educations. Her begetter went to enactment successful the casinos, archetypal arsenic a porter and yet a blackjack dealer. Her ma started enactment astatine Hudson Cleaners earlier becoming a seamstress astatine the Las Vegas Hilton, moving connected productions with performers specified arsenic Elvis Presley and Gladys Knight.
Las Vegas was a “very tiny community” erstwhile her parents arrived, she said. “I grew up present with that consciousness of assemblage and besides was raised to ever springiness backmost to the assemblage that was truthful bully to us.”
As a ninth grader, she helped tutor 2 students from Ecuador astatine the principal’s petition due to the fact that the schoolhouse didn’t person English connection classes. The acquisition lighted a spark. Her parents emphasized acquisition arsenic “the cardinal to my future. So done that acquisition and upbringing, I past decided to go a teacher.”
She returned to Nevada aft graduating from the University of Redlands successful California with her teaching credential and dual degrees successful English and Spanish. She taught precocious schoolhouse English and Spanish successful Clark County schools for 10 years and past went into schoolhouse administration, archetypal arsenic dean of students and adjunct main astatine Eldorado High School.
She served arsenic main of unit to the district’s northwest portion superintendent earlier becoming main of Fertitta Middle School, a station she held for 5 years. From 2015 until her status successful July, she was main astatine Foothill High School. She present consults, teaching different educators however to physique much captious classrooms and amended connections with students. In 2016, she was among 5 territory principals who received best-in-class awards for schoolhouse enactment from the Public Education Foundation.
As Foothill principal, Burkhead “worked tirelessly to amended the civilization and climate,” teacher Regan Peterson said Tuesday, raising expectations for pupil conduct, pushing them to strive and adding much precocious placement and dual recognition courses.
“We would beryllium thrilled to person an pedagogue successful that position, 1 who believes successful providing the astir rigorous and applicable acquisition to our state’s pupil population,” Peterson said.
Prioritizing education
Cano Burkhead’s inheritance successful acquisition is what brought to her to the governor’s attraction and forged their connection, she said. The governor’s squad reached retired to her and the 2 archetypal spoke “a fewer weeks ago.”
“After we had a speech and we saw that we truly philosophically understood what was important to marque improvements successful our state, that’s benignant of however this each came to fruition,” she said. “He truly has prioritized education. He understands the value of acquisition and however it impacts straight the economical improvement and our economy.”
The pandemic, she said, made it “very wide that we are successful a susceptible situation, and we truly bash request to absorption connected diversifying our economy. So erstwhile we are recruiting and wanting to propulsion businesses to our state, the mode to bash that besides is to marque definite that we person a apical notch nationalist schoolhouse strategy truthful that we tin pull businesses and imaginable families to determination here.
“The communal thread present is education, and acquisition is an concern that we marque successful our children that pays dividends done their lives.”
The lieutenant governor’s authoritative portfolio offers nary nonstop relation successful acquisition argumentation oregon administration, but Cano Burkhead said she would usage the station to advocator for schools. Besides presiding implicit the authorities Senate erstwhile the Legislature is successful session, the lieutenant politician chairs the authorities Commission connected Tourism and serves connected authorities boards dealing with tiny business, proscription and economical development.
“Obviously I’m going to usage my dependable and this spot astatine the array to lend my expertise and my acquisition acquisition from 25 years,” she said, adding that advocating for acquisition “blends naturally” with the position’s authoritative duties.
Cano Burkhead, 50, a Democrat, ran for Assembly successful 2002 and earlier served connected the Paradise Town Board. In tapping her for the post, Sisolak passed implicit 2 Democrats who person announced candidacies for the post, term-limited Henderson Mayor Debra March and Northern Nevada enactment organizer Kimi Cole.
Announced Republican candidates see Las Vegas City Councilman Stavros Anthony, erstwhile Treasurer Dan Schwartz, Las Vegas businessman John Miller and Las Vegas activistic Mack Miller.
The governor’s bureau declined to remark connected the assignment pending Thursday’s ceremonial announcement.
Contact Capital Bureau newsman Bill Dentzer astatine bdentzer@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DentzerNews connected Twitter.
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