For the past 16 years, San Elizario ISD’s Garcia-Enriquez Middle School (GEMS) has participated in the El Paso Do The Write Thing (DTWT) Challenge.

Over 7,000 students in the El Paso County participated in this year’s Challenge and only 40 were selected as semi-finalists.

Among those 40 were Alexa Piñones, Darlene Silva, and Evelyn Trejo— all 8^th graders at GEMS. Their writing demonstrated critical thinking abilities, creativity, and most importantly, offered solutions to the issue of violence.

“This Challenge gives our students the opportunity to have a voice against violence,” said Brenda Jara, Instructional Specialist at GEMS.

“We would like to congratulate these talented writers and also their teacher, Soledad Gonzalez, for preparing them with classroom discussions and projects by implementing the DTWT Challenge into her lessons which resulted in powerful essays.”

A recognition ceremony honoring student semi-finalists, their parents, district liaisons, teachers, principals, and superintendents will be held on Saturday, April 13, 2019, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Physical Science Building #115 at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Two students will be announced as national finalists at the ceremony.

The national finalists, a parent, and a teacher are each awarded an expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. where they will attend the national ‘Do the Write Thing’ leadership activities.

This week, officials with the San Elizario Independent School District (SEISD) rolled out their new music program to all three elementary schools.

Students from Lorenzo G. Alarcon, Alfonso Borrego Sr., and Josefa L. Sambrano Elementary schools will get to learn how to play a musical instrument for the very first time and also understand the basic fundamentals of music.

“Having music in our elementary schools will help introduce students to music at an earlier age with the hopes of growing our fine arts program at the secondary level,” said Dr. Jeannie Meza-Chavez, Superintendent at SEISD. “In addition, it will also help support an already rich, artistic San Elizario ISD community.”

“Our students are really excited to learn about music and how to incorporate it into their daily school routines,” said Genesis Lopez, music teacher at Sambrano Elementary. “Besides all of the statistics and tests that show that music in the school curriculum enhances tests scores, music is important to students because it lets them express themselves in ways that they cannot do so in other classes or in other activities.”

Faculty and staff from the elementary campuses are thrilled to have music on board and have expressed their desire to help facilitate the new music program.

“We are proud to launch an elementary music program for the 2018-2019 school year, which will soon include our Kindergarten students as well,” said Lisa Renegar, Director of Instructional Programs at SEISD. “We want to give our children one more reason to love school and look forward to coming to class every day.”

Besides learning how to play an instrument, students will also learn about music theory, music terminology, and famous music composers.

Borrego Elementary music teacher, Kevin Elizalde, believes students should keep an open mind when it comes to accepting other genres of music.

“Students should be exposed to all types of music,” Elizalde said. “By getting a taste of the different types of music that there are, they will broaden their music spectrum which will allow them to fall in love with music in general.”

“Music class should never be boring and the expectation is to have students singing, dancing, and playing various instruments on a daily basis,” said James Conrow, music teacher at Alarcon Elementary.

Even though these new, talented music teachers get to build their own music program from scratch, they all share the same goal— to have students gain a better appreciation for music and the benefits of having music as a class.

San Elizario ISD’s Alfonso Borrego Sr. Elementary has a colorful, new team set to take center stage during the upcoming holidays.

Griselda Ramos, 4th grade bilingual teacher at Borrego Elementary, is also the instructor of the new after school folklórico club called Miztli Folklórico.

“I am really excited to have the opportunity to introduce the art of folklórico to the students of Borrego Elementary,” Ramos said. “These type of programs helps build their self-esteem and also teaches them about respect and responsibility.”

The club consists of 10 boys and 10 girls of grade levels 1st through 6th and practice is held twice a week after school for about an hour each day.

Their latest performance was at the school’s annual Thanksgiving Luncheon where they performed in front of a large crowd of parents.

“You should have heard the round of applause they received,” said Norma Casillas, Principal at Borrego Elementary.

“I am so proud of them. It took a lot for them to get up on stage and dance in front of so many people. I am delighted to have a folklórico club at our campus because I know it is going to be very popular with our students in the years to come.”

“When you dance folklórico, it is all about having fun. It is a form of entertainment,” Ramos said. “I always tell my students to try new things because they never know how good they are until they give it a try. Once they see that anything is possible, they become more confident.”

Miztli Folklórico’s next performance will be on December 18th for Borrego Elementary’s Holiday Extravaganza event.

Construction is underway for more parking spaces at Lorenzo G. Loya Primary School in San Elizario.

“The need for additional parking became a priority for Loya Primary when the City of San Elizario passed an ordinance that prohibits vehicles from parking adjacent to any public school extending 50 feet passed the school property line,” said George Luevano, Director of Support Services at San Elizario ISD. “This means parents can no longer park on the side of the road near or across the primary school. Those who refuse to abide by this ordinance, are subject to citations and fines.”

To help ease the matter, district personnel met with San Elizario ISD’s Board of Trustees and proposed adding more parking to the primary school. After much consideration and review, the Board gave the green light to proceed with the construction project of more parking spaces.

“Approximately 100 new spots will be available for parents,” Luevano said. “It is going to cost us about $420,000 and this money comes from bond savings realized from the original bond projects that were approved by community voters in November 2014.”

Ruby Martinez is the mother of child who attends Loya Primary and she says more parking spaces will make things much easier for her and other parents.

“Every time the school has an awards assembly, parent-teacher conference, or any other school celebration, parking gets extremely full and it sometimes takes us several minutes trying to find a place to park,” Martinez said. “With the upcoming parking lot, we will no longer have to park our vehicles far and make the long walk.”

The project is expected to reach completion February of 2019.

On Wednesday officials with San Elizario ISD announced that San Elizario High School’s (SEHS) library is officially open to the community.

“The availability of libraries to San Elizario citizens is scarce, therefore, our library is a true treasure,” said Belinda Muñoz, SEHS librarian.

“The library provides a variety of reading materials for community members, such as an assortment of fiction and nonfiction books, which range from early childhood to adult.”

San Elizario residents can check-out up to six books, use the computers, and print documents for a fee of 25 cents per page.

In order to check-out books, visitors will need to present their ID with a current San Elizario address and a utility bill with a current San Elizario address as well.

For the use of computers and printers, visitors will need to fill-out and sign an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) form.

Georgina Diaz, Instructional Officer for San Elizario ISD, says that the SEHS community library is an integral component of the city of San Elizario.

“I encourage members of the San Eli community to take advantage of our community library. Literacy improves the future of everyone in society, and it is critical to individual and community well-being,” Diaz said.

The SEHS community library is located at 13981 Socorro Road and is open from 8am to 5pm, Monday thru Friday.

Lorenzo G. Alarcon Elementary is proud to open its doors to students in the Social Work Internship Program from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and El Paso Community College (EPCC).

“We are always so grateful every time UTEP and EPCC sends us interns,” said Nora Garcia, Counselor at Alarcon Elementary. “We love having them here. They serve as additional support to our students, parents, and staff and make an incredible difference in our students’ social and emotional growth. Interns will always be welcomed here with open arms.”

The interns sent to Alarcon Elementary are completing their Associates, Bachelors, and Masters degrees in Social Work at the end of the 2018-2019 school year. They made the commitment to complete 16 hours of internship per week for a total of 240 hours.

Both UTEP and EPCC have assigned several of their students to complete their internship hours at San Elizario ISD’s Alarcon Elementary.

“So far this experience has been very humbling because I have never worked with kids in a school setting before,” said Diana Romero, a Social Work major at UTEP.

“The environment at Alarcon Elementary is very welcoming and the students and staff are all so friendly and full of energy. I am having a great time here.”

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For residents that may be interested in interning at Alarcon Elementary, please contact Nora Garcia at (915) 872-3930  ext. 3458.

For a second year in a row, San Elizario High School (SEHS) coach Cesar Morales, received the ‘State Coach of the Year for Boys Cross Country’ award.

The honor is awarded on behalf of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).

“It is truly an honor to receive this award once again for what WE have achieved,” Morales said.

“I say ‘WE’ because this is a group accomplishment— my assistant coach, Jorge Maese, and the Boys Cross Country team, also play an essential role and together we contribute to the success of the team.”

The NFHS bestows this prestigious award to one coach in each sport for each state association.

Recipients of this award reflect excellent coaching abilities on and off the athletic arena.

Morales will be recognized November 3rd during the 4A Boys awards ceremony in Round Rock, Texas.

San Elizario ISD Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher Dr. Ana Luna uses her high school classroom to prepare her students for future careers in technology, business, health sciences and engineering.

As a forensics and biomedical sciences CTE teacher, Luna exposes her students to techniques used in real world law enforcement and crime investigations.

Her lessons cover topics related to the collection of evidence including entomology, anthropology, ABO blood typing, fingerprinting, DNA, case studies, hair analysis and ballistics.

In addition to her regular classroom teaching duties, Luna is also leading by example, as she recently obtained her doctorate in education; a perfect example of life-long learning for her students.

“There are a lot of kids in this community that have a story like mine,” Luna said. Born in Mexico and raised by her grandparents, Luna did not have the opportunity to go to college until she moved to the United States.

“I come from really humble beginnings. I struggled with the culture and language, but knew how important it was to get an education. Now, I strive to instill the same confidence in my students, that it doesn’t matter where you come from – you can still reach your full potential.”

“It’s fantastic to have Dr. Luna as a teacher in our CTE program,” said Michael Rodriguez, CTE Coordinator at San Elizario ISD. “To have someone teaching these courses who has achieved that level of education and is continuing as a lifelong learner, you can’t ask for a better role model.”

SEISD officials add, “Through partnerships with local colleges and universities, these CTE courses allow students the opportunity to earn dual credit, articulated credit, industry certifications and licensure while completing their high school degree.”

Author: Angela Saavedra – ESC Region 19

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There is a new kind of energy in the air in San Elizario. This time it comes in the form of high school football, something the San Elizario High School (SEHS) Eagles have not had an opportunity to be excited about in a long time.

The Eagles, who finished with a 0-10 record in 2017, are surprisingly optimistic for the 2018 season.

It starts with the hiring of a new head football coach, Ray Aguilar Jr. Coach Aguilar has instilled a set of core values that are posted just about everywhere you look in the hallways of the new Vicente Delgadillo, Jr. Field House.

“When my kids or coaches are asked about SEHS Football, they will tell you about the core values. It is the backbone of this program— it is who we are,” said Aguilar. The core values are Energy, Accountability, Grit, Love & Family, and Effort.

Since Aguilar’s arrival in May 2018, the Eagles have seen some major changes including record numbers in student participation, a new culture of positivity amongst athletes and coaches, the development of a freshman football team, the hiring of a well experienced coaching staff, success in the 7 on 7 passing league, and even a new logo.

The change in culture combined with the return of several starters could lead to a winning season for the Eagles.

The defense will be led by their talented senior safety Nathan Guerrero. The offense returns some serious fire power in running back Ray Acevedo who will line up behind a young but powerful offensive line. Senior Quarterbacks Jacob Lopez and Chris Olvera will compete for the starting job.

“We’ve been working really hard this offseason to win a district championship,” said Acevedo. “The talent and energy is here we just need to give our best effort. Our coaches are helping us get 1% better every day and when the season is here we will turn it around.”

It is evident that Coach Aguilar has the Eagles believing in change. With all the effort, excitement, and change that is evident in San Elizario, it would no surprise to see the Eagles win their first district championship since 1999.

The Eagles will kick-off their season at home versus Riverside High School on August 31^st at 7:00 PM.

Story courtesy SEISD Website

The San Elizario Eagles are rulers of the soccer roost, securing their second Texas State Championship in four years, defeating Palestine 1-0 Friday afternoon.

The Eagles won the trophy by doing what they did all season: solid offensive play and top-notch defensive work; in fact San Eli blanked their last three teams en route to the crown.

Special Photographer to the Herald-Post, David Lord, was at the game and brings you all the excitement in this ‘Story in Many Pics.’

The San Elizario Eagles are only one game away from yet another state title in soccer, as they defeated Madisonville 3-0 Wednesday evening.

It’s the Eagle’s second visit to the championship game in just four years, this time they’ll take on Palestine on Friday for all the marbles; to view photos of the Eagles’ last two games, click here.

Special Photographer to the Herald-Post, David Lord, was at the game and brings you all the excitement in this ‘Story in Many Pics.’