Community Kudos: The spring break edition
Students and teachers may be on spring break this week, but, never fear, Community Kudos are not.
Before we get started with this week’s community standouts, we wanted to take a moment to express our condolences to the families of the four persons killed Tuesday in that Marine helicopter crash north of Ocotillo.
Their names still had not been released as of press time, and there remain quite a few gaps in our knowledge of what happened. Nevertheless, we do know they died while in service to our country, so, yes, we owe them kudos and our thanks.
On a less somber note, we want to extend kudos as well to Ben Hulse Elementary School in Imperial and Emmett S. Finley Elementary in Holtville. They were the only two Imperial Valley schools among 287 schools statewide to be named California Distinguished Schools for 2018. Schools receiving the honor have to meet several benchmarks set by the State Board of Education. Well done.
Hats off, too, to Brawley Union sophomore Jessica Cosio whose first season competing in mock trial as a courtroom journalist impressed enough to earn her a trip to the state finals. Knowing a thing or two about journalism ourselves, we understand it’s harder than it looks. In fact, we’d like to see her resume.
Kudos to the parents, coaches and the young competitors on Brawley’s Gladiators Wrestling Club, which took a state title recently in the bantam weight division. People wondering how Brawley Union keeps winning all of those CIF titles, this is where it starts.
Congratulations are also in order to the Valley’s two new fire chiefs. Alfredo Estrada Jr. has officially taken the helm of the Imperial County Fire Department, while Diego Favila has had the “interim” label lifted from his title in Calexico. Thank you, gentlemen, for stepping up to the challenge.
Finally, we want to extend very smiley kudos to Alexandria Justman, who was the subject of one of our most popular feel-good stories last week. Justman, a dispatcher with the El Centro Police Department, handled a call recently regarding a baby that just couldn’t wait to get here. Justman kept her cool and talked the anxious parents through the delivery.
At last report, parents and infant were doing fine.