Central Union High School, also known as Central or CUHS, is a four-year public

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

El Centro, California El Centro ( Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the largest city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban ar ...

with a diverse student body of more than 1,910 students. It is one of three schools in the Central Union High School District.

History

The school was established in 1908, and celebrated its centennial in 2008. Among the most well-known alumni are actor

Donal Logue Donal Francis Logue (born February 27, 1966) is a Canadian actor. He starred in the film '' The Tao of Steve'' and has had roles in the TV series ''Sons of Anarchy'', ''Vikings'', ''Grounded for Life'', ''Copper'', '' Terriers'', and, as Detecti ...

from the class of 1984, who starred in the Fox TV sitcom "

Grounded for Life ''Grounded for Life'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on January 10, 2001, as a mid-season replacement on Fox. Created by Mike Schiff and Bill Martin, it ran for two seasons on the network until being canceled only two episodes into ...

" and was Central's ASB president his senior year; professional saxophonist Walter Beasley, a member of the school's Great Spartan Band in the 1970s under the late band director and local jazz legend Jimmie Cannon; Doug Harvey, an umpire in the National Baseball Hall of Fame; former

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

linebacker Glenn Cadrez and actress

Kyle Richards Kyle Richards Umansky (: born January 11, 1969) is an American actress, socialite, and television personality. Since 2010, she has appeared as a main cast member on ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'', and as of 2022, is the last remaining ...

of the class of 1987; and actor/artist H. Michael Wieben, class of 1962, who appeared on and off Broadway. Central's annual football game with the

Brawley Union High School Brawley Union High School (BUHS) is a high school in Brawley, California. Clubs *Campus Life *Associated Student Body *Theatre/Drama *Friday Night Live *California Scholastic Federation *Travel Club *Fortnite club (actual club) *Future Teachers ...

Wildcats of

Brawley, CA Brawley (formerly, Braly) is a city in the Imperial Valley and within Imperial County, southern California, United States. The population was 24,953 at the 2010 census, up from 22,052 in 2000. The town has a significant cattle and feed indust ...

which is called the bell game is one of the oldest high school rivalries in the country.

Clubs

Academic Decathlon

Central's

Academic Decathlon The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective multiple choice tests, tw ...

team has won the Imperial County Competition every year since 1981, until 2014, but have competed in the state competition in

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annually during their time.

Mock Trial

Central's Mock Trial team participates in the Constitutional Rights Foundation's California Mock Trial Program, and has competed and won in the state championship in 1986 and 1998. In 2015, the team placed second in the state championship, the first time in the team's history.

Athletics

Central competes in the Imperial Valley League in the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a ...

San Diego Section. The school's teams are called the Spartans and its colors are blue and white. The Spartans' longtime archrivals are the Brawley Wildcats. The annual football game, known as the Bell Game, began in 1943 when the schools' associated student bodies bought the bell from a ship in San Diego for $50. But the Central-Brawley rivalry predates the Bell Game and began in 1921.

Fall Sports

* Volleyball * Cross Country * Girls' Volleyball * Girls' Golf * Girls' Tennis * Boys' Football * JV Cheer * Varsity Cheer

Winter Sports

* Boys' Basketball * Girls' Basketball * Boys' Soccer * Girls' Soccer * Wrestling

Spring Sports

* Boys' Tennis * Swimming * Softball * Baseball * Boys' Golf * Track and Field

Music Programs

* Marching Band (The Great Spartan Band) * Beginning Band * Wind Ensemble * Concert Band * Jazz Band * Stage Band * Chorus * Guitar

The Great Spartan Band

The Great Spartan Band performs at all home football games and is known for its "Spartan Shuffle" as it enters the field during pre-game and as it exits the field after halftime. The band also performs in local events and parades in Imperial and

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

counties. In addition, Central has an award-winning jazz band and a wind ensemble. The band has performed across the country and received awards and honors from the Orange Coast College Jazz Festivals, El Centro Navy Base Jazz Festival, Southwestern College Jazz Festival, Imperial Valley College Jazz Festival, USC Concert of the Bands,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Band Festival,

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has ...

Music Festivals, Columbus Day Parade, Mother Goose Parade, and the Disneyland Parades and concerts in 1975, 1976, 1977, and 1987. Under the direction of Jimmie Cannon from 1966 to 1996, the Great Spartan Band began to travel extensively and in 1972 performed in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, where it was honored by the Mexican President

Luis Echeverría Luis Echeverría Álvarez (; 17 January 1922 – 8 July 2022) was a Mexican lawyer, academic, and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), who served as the 57th president of Mexico from 1970 to 1976. Previously ...

. The band has a standing invitation to perform in the Mardi Gras parades in

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, most recently in 2016. The band also traveled to

Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1995, where it participated in the Magic Kingdom Easter Parade. The Great Spartan Band was invited by Congressman

Bob Filner Robert Earl "Bob" Filner (born September 4, 1942) is an American former politician who was the 35th mayor of San Diego from December 2012 through August 2013, when he resigned amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment. He later pleaded gui ...

( California's 51st District) to participate in the 2010

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

Parade in

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References

{{authority control High schools in Imperial County, California Public high schools in California 1908 establishments in California