Category Archives: Community

UTRGV Students Take Trading Competition

Education Featured Finance/Banking News Comments
Christopher Martinez, Michael Villarreal and Jose Naveja with faculty advisor Bruno Arthur (UTRGV Photo)

A group of undergraduate business students from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley recently beat out more than 500 teams from 37 countries to capture their first ever championship win in the 15th annual CME Group Trading Challenge. Christopher Martinez of McAllen, Michael Villarreal of Rio Grande City and Jose Naveja of Progreso finished the competition with a total of $706,585. They beat out second-place competitor Kansas State University, who…

Read More

TSTC Students Advance to State Competition

Education Featured News Comments
TSTC SkillsUSA winners (photo TSTC)

For the first time in more than a decade, Education and Training students from Texas State Technical College participated in the recent SkillsUSA competition hosted at the college and are headed to state competitions in April. “We are so excited and proud of our students,” said Education and Training Lead Instructor Myriam Aguila. “They have worked so hard and deserve this recognition. They have had quite the experience.” SkillsUSA is…

Read More

CodeRGV Attends CodeWars 2018

Education Events Featured News Technology Comments
Representatives from CodeRGV attend CodeWars in Houston. CodeRGV is currently planning events to help local students prepare for next year's event. (photo CodeRGV)

More than 750 high school level Computer Science enthusiasts converged on the HPE campus in Houston last weekend to participate in CodeWars 2018. CodeRGV was in attendance to learn more about the program and to build a stronger partnership with school districts across the state. In addition, the group learned how Valley school districts can participate in future HPE events like this one. The students, representing close to 100 districts across…

Read More

School of Medicine to Open Women’s Center

Education Featured Healthcare News Comments
The UT Health Rio Grande Valley Surgery and Women’s Specialty Center will soon be coming to this building at 614 Maco Drive.

UT Health Rio Grande Valley, the clinical component of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, has acquired a general surgery practice in Harlingen as part of the School of Medicine’s mission to increase access to primary and specialty care for residents throughout the region. The UT Health Rio Grande Valley Surgery and Women’s Specialty Center, located at 614 Maco Drive in Harlingen, will offer services such…

Read More

Arts and Cultural Center Coming to Edinburg

Arts News Comments
(photo City of Edinburg)

On March 2, the City of Edinburg Library and Cultural Arts Division and the Edinburg Arts Foundation unveiled a new sign marking the spot of the future South Texas Arts and Cultural Center. Plans are in the works to renovate the old Sam Houston Elementary School. The vision is to feature local artists, host family-friendly cultural events, and attract more visitors to the city. The city acquired the property at the corner…

Read More

Lighting a Fire in Edinburg

Arts News Comments
Edna Pena

On a recent Friday, Edna Pena walked into the Dustin M. Sekula Memorial Library in Edinburg and seemed to know everyone and everything before making her way to the office of the director. “I’m a social butterfly and a free spirit,” said Pena, the president of the Edinburg Arts Foundation and a former president of the local chamber. “I never start at zero. I start at 100 percent and go…

Read More

Multimedia Art Event Explores the FOLD

Arts Education Events Featured News Comments
A close-up of an interactive installation created by Laleh Mehran, whose work has been exhibited around the world. (lalehmehran.com)

Exhibit opens Feb. 2 Art that challenges space and time will be the focal point for FOLD: Art, Metaphor and Practice, a series of art exhibits, lectures and live performances over the next two months in McAllen and Edinburg. Artwork by 13 women artists will converge in what is described as a presentation of works that explore the concept of the fold in terms of form and conceptual metaphor in…

Read More

Clark Shapes Clay into a Business

Arts News Comments
Sculptor Doug Clark shapes clay on a work in progress at his studio. (VBR)

“I’m not a be-still or sit-still kind of guy,” said sculptor Doug Clark in his Edinburg studio. The number and variety of bronze sculptures he has created in his 35-year career are a testament to that. In McAllen alone, 65 of Clark’s pieces are on display, including Quinta Mazatlan’s extraordinary statues of native animals and his Veterans War Memorial of Texas’s statues and remarkable Korean War plaques. His Janis Joplin…

Read More

The Business of Teaching Creativity

Arts Education News Retail Comments
Hands In Art owner Margie Ramirez has built a business out of teaching art techniques to young people.

Anaid Madrigal stands before a group of young girls enjoying a birthday party with an added twist. Madrigal is teaching the girls how to improve their artistic skills as each one draws little mermaids on their individual canvas boards. “Everyone paints differently, so you can paint your own version,” said Madrigal, an instructor at the Hands In Art Studio in downtown Mission. Combining a birthday party with a tutorial on…

Read More

Harlingen School District Dedicates New Academy

e-Brief Features Education News Comments
Harlingen School Superintendent Art Cavazos speaks during the dedication of the district’s new Media Arts and Communications Academy. (VBR)

“Creative incubator” gives hands-on experiences Although the Harlingen school district’s the new Media Arts and Communications Academy opened with the start of the school year, officials introduced it to the community at a ceremony this week. HCISD Superintendent Art Cavazos said the academy serves as “a creative incubator to inspire students” who are considering a future in the field. The academy teaches classes in television, radio and graphics arts production.…

Read More