State Superintendent honors Desert Oasis, Aurora

Desert Oasis and Aurora high schools were recently honored by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson by being named “Model Continuation High Schools” this year.

Desert Oasis in El Centro and Aurora in Calexico are two of 32 schools in the state given the recognition that was released a week ago.

More than 53,000 students attended the state’s 441 continuation high schools during the 2016–2017 school year. The 32 schools selected as Model Continuation High Schools retain their designation for three years and will be recognized at this year’s CCEA State Conference in San Diego on April 2729.

Kudos to both schools for a job well done.

Vincent Memorial mock trial makes historic win in county finals, advances to state competition

The last time the Vincent Memorial High School Mock Trial program won the county finals, the members of this year’s team weren’t born yet.

Now all in their teenage years, the Vincent Memorial Mock Trial team members were able to use their debate skills to accomplish something their school hasn’t done in several decades — win the Imperial County Mock Trial finals.

Vincent Memorial defeated Brawley Union High School to win the Imperial County Mock Trial finals a week ago, held here at the Imperial County Superior Courthouse.

Brawley nominated Vincent senior Fernanda Brizuela as the Most Valuable Participant, while Vincent nominated Brawley’s Brandon Castro as MVP, a title Castro also received in last year’s finals. Congratulations to Vincent Memorial on the accomplishment.

Calexico POE work ramps up on Mexicali side of border

As the work for phase I of the new Calexico West Land Port of Entry is nearing completion, construction has sped up and is expected to catch up later this year.

On Monday, County Supervisors John Renison and Luis Plancarte met with Jaime Nova, administrator of the Customs Office in Mexicali, to get an update on the latest activity surrounding the first phase of construction on the Mexicali side of the border. Both supervisors visited the construction site and also held a meeting in which they were given a presentation regarding the project.

Renison said Mexican officials said they expect to complete construction on the Mexicali side by July. Although he was a bit skeptical of that goal, he feels confident the project will be completed by the end of the year.

We are skeptical too, but hope they come through with their target date in July. Kudos and good luck for ramping up construction.

Local bowler scores perfect games

A goal for many bowlers is to put together the perfect game. Twelve strikes for a 300.

One would expect some excitement when that goal is achieved for the first time.

For Michael Curtis, he hit the milestone six years ago at the age of 17 and up until the beginning of the year; he added nine more perfect games.

On Jan. 16, Curtis started out in the Mixed League at StrikeZone, where he added his 10th perfect game and followed it with a bunch of strikes and a bad-break pocket 7-10 split to post a 234.

The night turned extra special as he rolled a second 300 game in the series. Congratulations to Curtis for reaching such a rare accomplishment.

Central Union girls’ soccer completes perfect IVL season

Heading into the final Imperial Valley League contest of the season, the Central Union High girls’ soccer team only had a victory in its sights.

A loss or a tie against cross-town rival Southwest High was not an option as the Spartans were chasing perfection and looking to tie up the IVL season with an unblemished record of 12-0.

As if that weren’t enough, Central is also ranked No. 1 in the CIF-San Diego Section Div. III soccer standings, a spot the team intended to keep no matter the circumstances.

The only thing standing in their way was a hungry Southwest High squad that had fallen to the Spartans twice before earlier in the season, making the teams’ third matchup a highly anticipated event that would also determine the recipient of the City Championship trophy.

After two exciting and competitive halves of action, it was the visiting Spartans that celebrated on Eagle Field after a late score lifted Central to a 1-0 victory in El Centro a week ago.

Congratulations to the Spartans and good luck in the playoffs.