ICOE Stories

Central Union High School’s Robotics Club is gearing up for the Renewable Energies Summit after battling fellow techies and their metal mischief makers in San Diego last week.

Fresh off its second-place victory at the national American String Teachers Association’s National Orchestra Festival on March 5 in Santa Monica, the orchestra now sets its sights on wowing judges at the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association festival on March 16 at Long Beach Polytechnic High School.

On February 10th the College Board's 6th Annual AP (Advanced Placement) Report to the Nation identified the AP Spanish Language exam given to students at Calexico High School in the Calexico Unified School District (Calexico, California) as an 'Exemplary AP Program,' based on Calexico High School being a public school with the largest number of Latino students from the class of 2009 scoring a 3 or higher on a particular AP exam.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell designated six California schools as model middle grades schools in the Schools to Watch™–Taking Center Stage (STW™–TCS) program last February 26.

Brawley Union High School and Barbara Worth Junior High School, in conjunction with the Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program, are educating students on the importance of going green and coaching students on the installation processes of green technology.

The Spartans’ team has won the county Academic Decathlon competition for the past 25 years, since its inception in 1981. Last year the team came back from the state competition with 15 medals, including 10 from placing first in the most prestigious category of the competition — the Super Quiz Oral Relay — and this year the team is aiming for gold again, Neil MacGaffey, the team’s coach, said.

The group, which consists of Gifted and Talented Education program students, honor students and students in the College/Career Pathway elective course, is fundraising to meet its goal of $20,000 in order to bus the students to University of California, Los Angeles “to experience visiting the university and promote going to college,” Barbara Worth Principal Luis Panduro said.

The top two overall division winners in the junior and senior categories from last Sunday’s qualifying round competed again to see who was the best in showmanship in the entire Imperial Valley, said Shannon Johnston, one of the livestock assistants at the fair. Contestants had to demonstrate their knowledge and present eight different breeds of animals in front of eight judges including their specialty animal.

All students from 12 middle and high schools and the judges received medals and trophies for their part in the first speech tournament of its kind for the area.

The Migrant Education Program has been working to get something like it in place for more than a year, said program director Sandra Kofford. Public speaking is an important skill for people to have, and students learning it now have a head start.

Students at Sunflower Elementary gave Sgt. Steven Granados a second “welcome home” from Kosovo when he brought his daughter, Mireya, to kindergarten on Friday.

“He’s crying,” some students said as Granados and Mireya walked through a line of cheering students.

They greeted Granados and presented hand-written letters and drawings to him.