Author: JOHN BARDSLEY

Some call it the Superbowl of golf, but it’s more like the Daytona 500 in that it is the first of the four majors each season. It is The Masters, and unlike most tournaments, it is an invitational and always played at Augusta National. Therefore, the field is smaller and loaded with recent tournament winners. On April 3, Jim Herman, a lifelong friend of Centennial history teacher Steven Wyder, won the Shell Houston Open to qualify for The Masters. During his Masters’ interview, Herman used the occasion to acknowledge the part that Mr. Wyder has played in his success. For a … Read More

Satchel Joseph, the 2016 SLWCHS valedictorian, has been accepted into four Ivy League Universities: Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, and The University of Pennsylvania. She was also accepted by Georgia Tech and Duke. All of the institutions offered her substantial scholarships ranging to more than $70,000 per year. Satchel is leaning toward attending Princeton, which accepted a mere 6% of this year’s applicants. Here, Ms. Joseph is pictured with Centennial’s  Principal Andrea Popwell.

Prince Edouard, Vice-President of the National Honor Society at SLWCHS, has been accepted by Cornell University in New York. Cornell, a prestigious Ivy League university, has an excellent program in chemistry and chemical biology, which Prince has chosen for his major. He plans to attend both medical and graduate school ultimately leading to a position as a research scientist with a pharmaceutical company.

Senior Karina Sotolongo anxiously awaits the opening of the IRSC Writing Contest Awards ceremony. The contest has competitors from more than twenty area high schools, and there are three places for each of the four high school grades. Karina won third place as a sophomore, first as a junior, and first as a senior. As a three time winner, she received a plaque and a full scholarship to IRSC.

St. Lucie West Centennial High School junior Lauren King has published her first novel entitled  A Flower Named Rose. It is a teen romance in which the protagonist, a princess, flees to escape an arranged marriage. Her hope is that on her journey she will find happiness. The publisher is createspace.com, and the book may be ordered from Amazon.com.

 Fifty two cadets from the St. Lucie West Centennial High School JROTC visited the Fort Pierce Coast Guard station recently.  The cadets saw the  facilities, toured the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Blue Fin, got “underway” aboard the forty-five foot high speed patrol boat for a ride out to the Atlantic, and toured the other patrol craft the stations uses on a regular basis.  The cadets gained a real understanding of what it is like to be a member of the Coast Guard and what it means to live by their motto of “Semper Paratus,” or always ready.

Students face tough challenges every day, but 32 cadets from the St. Lucie West Centennial High School Navy JROTC faced a very tough one recently, spending spent four days at the U. S. Navy’s Parris Island Boot Camp.  During their visit they were treated just like any other recruit.  They learned how to follow orders with spit second response times.  They learned to pay close attention to details or suffer “extra military instruction.” Of course, they received “counseling” from their drill instructor, slept in barracks, ate in the Mess Hall, trained on the obstacle course, and drilled just like Marines.  On their … Read More

The St. Lucie West Centennial High School Black Talon Company competition team recently competed against 15 other Florida Navy JROTC units including two former national champs.  The cadets returned successfully from Felix Varela High School in Miami with three trophies: fourth place in Armed Basic Regulation Drill, third place in Overall Drill, and first place in  Armed Exhibition Drill Team.  The cadets are now preparing for their next competition in February.