Knowing Nevada: Neon, Nevada's state element

The Bighorn sheep, sagebrush, and casino chips. Those are just three things of 22 symbols that you may associate with Nevada. Recently, there was a new addition to that list which some locals either turned their heads about, or welcomed with open arms.

Most people will tell you Nevada is a 24-hour state. From city streets to small town bars or casinos, the Silver state has an everlasting 'glow' of nightlife.

That glow is something that lasts for decades. The aforementioned 'glow' we are referring to, is the glow of neon.

The Arch of Reno, the cactus jack senator of Carson City, The Nugget in Silver Springs, and especially all over Las Vegas, our local element neon can be seen from outer-space.

Many places like Nashville, Tennessee take pride in their neon nightlife. However, it was Nevada that decided to stake claim to the colorized chemical by using political pundits who couldn't even pull the lever at a polling place.

How did it become our 'State Element'?

A teacher at Carson Montessori School in Carson City, NV, holds a passion for nurturing neon-signs.

"The transformers on these signs can last for decades. Some can last for half a century,." says Will Durham, teacher at director of the Nevada Neon Project. "This is something I'm passionate about. I'm also passionate about educating my students so I thought why not mix both?"

Durham decided to give his fifth grade students both a history and a social studies lesson tied into one. He proposed an idea to make neon Nevada's first state element. However, he wasn't going to make his dream come true alone.

"I could teach the kids about the chemistry of neon while also showing them how a bill can become a law," says Durham.

A history lesson turned historic.

Even though the original bill is probably the smallest piece of legislation to be drafted, Durham's fifth and sixth grade classes learned how to lobby for a cause.

"Neon is something that everybody recognizes about Nevada," says Diego Villalobos, a sixth grader at Carson Montessori School. "I learned about the legislature and how bills get passed into the Senate and the Assembly. It's hard work."

Diego and his classmates were taught how to lobby, play the political game, and testify before a committee.

The bill was soon championed by Assemblywoman Sarah Peters, who sponsored the bill and pushed it from the Assembly, to the Senate, and finally to the Governor's desk in April of 2019.

"It was kinda cool being next to my classmates and actually see it become a law," says Villalobos. "Before we had nothing but neon signs. So, now our state has its own element," says Villalobos.

You can read the piece of legislation right below:

Knowing Nevada is a historical heritage series that highlights some of the interesting, unknown, and known, tales about the state of Nevada. This series is researched and put together by our own native Nevadan, Miles Buergin. If you have any suggestions for our next Knowing Nevada, please e-mail him at: mjbuergin@sbgtv.com

For more Knowing Nevada stories, click here.