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It was one of the busiest weekends yet for El Paso bands, with three separate contests taking place on Saturday. The end result was some great finishes for our local groups.

The first contest of the weekend was the 4-A Area contest in Lubbock. Mountain View and Clint represented El Paso, but neither band was able to advance past the preliminary round.

The largest contest of the season was simultaneously happening in Las Cruces. The 41st annual Tournament of Bands took place with some outstanding results for our local groups.28 bands took the field in 4 classes with the following results.

In preliminary Class B Awards, Irvin won Outstanding Music Execution, Burges won Outstanding Percussion, Alamogordo won Best colorguard, and Jeff/Silva won the Drum Major award. Riverside finished third, Irvin finished second, and Alamogordo finished in first place.

In preliminary Class A , Eastlake High School took Music Execution, Percussion, and Colorguard, while Parkland High School took home the Drum Major award. Top finishers were Las Cruces High School in third, Bel Air in second, and Eastlake in the top spot.

In preliminary Class AA, Hanks swept all captions. Cleveland High School from Rio Rancho, New Mexico, came in third, while Onate finished second and Hanks took the top spot.

The 10 bands advancing to finals were Albuquerque Eldorado, Las Cruces, Cleveland, Del Valle, Eastwood, Eastlake, Horizon, Onate, Bel Air, and Hanks High Schools.

Hanks High School ended the night as Grand Champions with their show ‘Pocket Full of Poseys.’ Other finalist finishes included Eastlake in second place, with Onate High School from Las Cruces in third and Bel Air High School finishing fourth. Cleveland was in 5th place, followed by Horizon High in 6th, Eastwood in 7th, and Del Valle in 8th. Las Cruces High finished 9th and Albuquerque Eldorao finished 10th.

Perhaps the biggest news of the days is El Paso has both the advancing bands from the Area A 6-A marching band contest. 14 bands competed in prelims, with seven bands advancing to finals. El Paso bands in finals included Americas, Coronado, Montwood, and Pebble Hills.

At the end of the second and final round of competition, Pebble Hills came in first, followed closely by Montwood. These two bands, both from the Socorro ISD, will now travel to San Antonio to represent West Texas at the State marching band contest.

Prelims for the 6-A contest will be held in the Alamodome on Monday, November 5, with the finals round taking place on Tuesday, November 6.

Directors of the Pebble Hills Spartan band are Maximo Sierra, Raul Chavira, Daniel Hunt, and Cecil Crabtree.

The Montwood “Mean Green” band is under the direction of Beto Pererz, Roman Lechuga, and Caitlyn Colette.

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Author – Lorraine Kubala

The complete schedule can be viewed on the ‘Musical Notes- The Blog’ page on Facebook.

Eastlake and Montwood high schools have received the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (T-STEM) application planning year approval and designation, respectively, by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for the 2018-19 school year.

T-STEM Academies are rigorous secondary schools focusing on improving instruction and academic performance in science and mathematics-related subjects. They increase the number of students who study and enter STEM careers.

“We are excited to have been awarded the T-STEM designation and planning year approval at Montwood and Eastlake High School,” said Carmen Crosse, assistant superintendent of secondary education. “The innovative instruction and support our students will receive through these programs is another endless opportunity they can benefit from.”

This is the first year Eastlake High School receives the planning year approval for its computer science program.  Eastlake’s computer science T-STEM Academy will engage in a year of planning with TEA-selected technical assistance providers to meet the design elements and requirements in the T-STEM blueprint.

Upon successful completion of the planning year, the school will be eligible to apply for the provisional designation in 2019-20.

“Receiving the T-STEM application planning year approval from TEA is truly an honor for our campus,” said Gilbert Martinez, principal at Eastlake High School. “We are very excited for students and teachers. Our computer science classes are a prime example of extending the most opportunities for all students in Socorro ISD as a T-STEM school.”

Montwood’s Synergi4 Academy has earned the designation since 2014.

“We are excited to continue providing our Synergi4 biomedical and engineering students with the great opportunities that come from being a TEA T-STEM designated campus,” said Carlos Guerra, Montwood principal. “We are happy to continue making Montwood High School and Team SISD the best place to be.”

T-STEM academies have access to professional development, receive technical assistance, and participate in the network of T-STEM Academies. Students can receive a high school diploma while earning college credit, they also can complete industry certifications and credentials.

T-STEM campuses are designated based on a rigorous designation process, according to the TEA website. Once a campus is designated, professional development and technical assistance are provided to designated T-STEM academies to serve as demonstration schools and learning labs.

Designated academies showcase innovative instruction methods which integrate technology and engineering into science and mathematics instruction.

“Thank you for Socorro ISD’s hard work and dedication in providing STEM opportunities for students so they may accelerate their learning and graduate from high school prepared for the post-secondary path of their choosing,” said Commissioner of Education Mike Morath, in a letter.

The Socorro Independent School District celebrated more than 3,400 graduates at commencement ceremonies on May 31, June 2 and 3 at the Region 19 Chito Samaniego center and the Don Haskins Center at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Socorro Independent School District students recently made history, as they were the first SISD students to exhibit their work at the El Paso Museum of Art.

“I am really excited for our students,” said Macka Jones, visual art specialist for SISD. “This is an amazing experience and for many of them a dream come true. We are proud to be a district of endless opportunities and that is what we created today, an opportunity for our students.”

Young artists were thrilled to see their beautiful ceramics, diverse paintings and hand-crafted sculptures at the 59-year-old museum. Their art was placed next to an exhibit featuring artwork owned by the actor and comedian Richard Anthony “Cheech” Marin.

“It’s pretty unbelievable that my work is being showcased at the El Paso Museum of Art,” Saenz said. “We all worked really hard to get here so we could display our love of art.”

The exhibit originated last September when students toured the museum’s permanent collection of art, the 7,000-piece Kress Collection.

The students were asked to choose a work that caught their eye and create an art piece inspired by that particular work.

“Working with the SISD students and teachers has been a great experience,” said David Hernandez, education curator at the El Paso Museum of Art. “The art work is impressive and it’s interesting to see the direct correlation between their work and what they saw at the museum.”

Marquez, a senior at Pebble Hills, was inspired by American painter Raphael Soyer.

“It took a long time to finish my piece but I’m really proud of it,” Marquez said. “My freshmen year I would have never imagined that my work would be featured in a museum. This is a really big deal!”

Teachers and parents also were happy to see the student work at the showcase.
“During the process I saw tears, passion and joy and that is the creation of art,” said Veronica Chaparro, art teacher at Eastlake High School. “To see them release their emotions into something visual and tangible for the community to see is amazing!”

The student art was displayed April 21-23 and drew a large crowd of students, families, teachers and friends.

The student showcase featured the work of 27 high school students from Americas, Eastlake, El Dorado, Montwood, Pebble Hills and Socorro high schools.

The students featured are: Alimei Saenz, Ana Calderas, Ana Varela, Andrea Soto, Ariel Anguiano, Ashley Diaz, Ayleen Garcia, Blanca Gonzalez, Brianna Robles, Caleb Hernandez, Desiree Boykin, Isaiah Gutierrez, Kimberly Juarez, Leslie Cuellar, Lynette Baez, Marlena Ray, Mikayla Espineli, Natalia Quizz, Natalia Arzola, Noelle Marquez, Paul Sescon, Phoebe Lozano, Sergio Chavez, Stephanie Vazquez, Vanessa Najera, Victoria Aldaco and Viridiana Kropf.

Head Coach Sean Kugler announced Chuck Veliz as the Miners wide receivers coach on Friday.

Prior to coming to UTEP, Veliz was the head coach and athletic coordinator for Montwood High School for 13 years and compiled 11 winning seasons with the Rams.

While with the Rams, Veliz mentored current Miner Warren Redix who earned back-to-back All-District 1-5A Overall MVP honors. During his senior campaign, Redix compiled 751 rushing yards on 63 carries and added 39 tackles. Redix had four showings with 100 or more receiving yards as a senior. As a junior he notched 857 yards (13.82 average) on 62 receptions and five touchdowns.

The Rams finished the 2012 season 8-3 overall and 6-1 in league play. Montwood opened the season beating the highly competitive Odessa Permian.

In 2007, Montwood established a 10-2 overall record including an 8-0-league record. The team registered 270.3 receiving yards per game, 141.8 rushing yards per game and totaled 53 touchdowns in the season. The Rams recorded five showings of 300 or more passing yards.

In 2006, Veliz led the Rams to an 8-3 mark and a district championship. He mentored former Miner Julio Lopez, who guided Montwood that season and was named first team All-District, All-City and honorable mention All-State honors after registering 51 catches for 978 yards and eight touchdowns.

Veliz led the Rams to a bi-district title in 2004 going 6-0 in district play and advancing to the second round of playoffs. Leading the way for Montwood was three-star recruit Edward Britton. Britton was an Associated Press Class 5A First-Team All-State selection. While with the Rams tallied 2,172 rushing yards, averaging nearly 9.0 yards per carry and 220.0 yards per game. Britton was a four-year letterwinner at Texas Tech.

Prior to coaching at Montwood, Veliz went 35-10 at Del Valle from 1998-2002. In 2000, the Conquistadores went 11-1 and Veliz was named the El Paso Times Coach of the Year.

Before being appointed the head coach of Del Valle, Veliz served as an assistant coach for the Conquistadores for five seasons and began coaching high school football at Bel Air from 1987-88.

Veliz graduated from Ysleta High School in 1982 and received his bachelor’s degree from UTEP in 1987.

Veliz and his wife, Terri, have three children – Chris, Amanda and Joshua.

The Montwood Rams squared off against district 1-6A rival, Eastwood Troopers, in hopes to keep their playoff hopes alive and so they did by winning 37 to 22.

What started off as a low-scoring affair, ended up with a wild fourth quarter that featured both teams score a combined 29 points, forcing Eastwood to attempt an onside kick to keep hope alive.

The comeback attempt was denied after Rams defensive back Roman Alvarado intercepted a Mark Torres pass and returned it for touchdown that added to the lead.

Rams head coach, Chuck Veliz, wanted his team to play aggressive and not be intimidated by an Eastwood team that entered the contest with a 6-1 record.

“I knew they were going to play well they were going to play hard. To beat that team right there, they’re loaded with great athletes,” Veliz said. “Outstanding defensive effort, I just can’t say enough about the sophomore quarterback, Andrew Fernandez. He came in for the hurt, Gio Cisneros, the kid lit it up.”

Fernandez finished the night with 331 yards passing with two touchdowns and an interception and added a third touchdown on the ground.

“We lost our starting quarterback, didn’t let that faze us, just got the W,” Fernandez said. “They had trouble adjusting to us in the second half, we capitalized on it and scored.”

Montwood held the ball for most of the first half, but failed to capitalize on promising drives that resulted in two failed field goal attempts by Daneil Forzan and an interception by Fernandez inside Eastwood’s 20-yard line minutes before the half with the score in favor of the Rams, 9 to 7.

The Rams would take a two-point lead into the fourth quarter after exchanging touchdowns. It was then that Montwood would take a late 30-14 lead after defensive back intercepted an Eastwood pass on the goal line and returned it 98 yards to set up the two-yard score by running back Evan De Anda.

The Troopers would not give up that easily, cutting the Rams lead to eight with 1 minute, 11 seconds left to play. It was then that Eastwood would fail to recover an onside kick and Rams to score the final touchdown on Alvarado’s interception.

“We were going to be aggressive, kids were making adjustments on their own, we weren’t just going to be content,” Veliz said. “Other than that last drive, when we tried to kneel on the ball, was the only time we were a little conservative. We were aggressive tonight, we took our shots down the field and again, the sophomore quarterback was outstanding.”

The win helps the Rams improve to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in district, while dropping Eastwood to 6-2 and 2-2 in district play. The result now leaves the playoff picture in a scramble with Americas, Franklin, Eastwood, El Dorado and Montwood still alive in the race.

“We’re right back in the race, we have a chance get back in the race and get to the playoffs is going to be our goal,” Veliz said. “I liked my kids tonight, I always like them, but I like my team tonight, the way we played ball and we competed and it worked out well.”

Montwood has a bye before preparing for Socorro, while Eastwood takes on Socorro next Friday to continue district play.

District 1-6A Standings

Team–Overall–District

Americas 5-3, 3-1

Franklin 4-4, 3-1

El Dorado 5-3, 3-1

Montwood 5-3, 3-2

Eastwood 6-2, 2-2

Coronado 2-7, 1-4

Socorro 3-5, 0-4