ICOE Stories

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.

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.

The CUHS Great Spartan Band and IHS Pride of Imperial band performed as two buses carrying Army National Guard soldiers pulled into the armory in El Centro.  They were surprised by the crowds and high school bands awaiting them.

“The welcome we had here was unexpected and a very nice surprise,” said Staff Sgt. Frank Novak.

As the deadline for freshman college applications approaches, the Imperial County Office of Education says many more students head off to college than reported by the California Post Secondary Education department.

Numbers from the Imperial County Office of Education indicate that the college-going rate was about 70 percent, as opposed to state records, which indicate only about 30 percent, said Imperial County Office of Education College Going Initiative coordinator Javier Ramos.