Author: Scott Albright

The year 2022 was packed with adventure, success and learning at Albuquerque Academy. After charging full steam out of the pandemic, students at Academy excelled in a number of areas. Take a leap back and see some of the highlights of 2022 in the following stories and photographs. ABQ Academy boys top metro tennis Albuquerque Academy boys took first place in the Albuquerque Metro Tennis Championships, held April 18-22, with an overall team score of 18.5. Albuquerque Academy hosts Richard Harper Invitational April 22-23 Academy’s Joaquin Deprez took first in the boys 800-meter run while Gigi Galles took first in…

The Albuquerque Area Holiday Lights Tour Facebook group is the place to find the best luminarias, Christmas lights, decorations and even Santa Claus appearances and free gifts. The private group has more than 29,000 members who share information, videos and photos of holiday lights in the Albuquerque area. Administrators for the group — Jared Trujillo, Melissa Rex and Chantel LeAnn Trujillo — helped put a map together with 280 holiday display locations, seven Christmas Eve luminaria locations, musical light shows, great neighborhoods to see and two different holiday light routes. Jared’s NE to SE Tour Route includes 10 stops beginning…

Team USA took second place in the Dec. 11-12 Romania World Championship Indoor Duration Model Airplanes Team challenge. Three of the team members are cadets in the Albuquerque Heights Composite Squadron, also called Spirit Squadron. Cadets Odessa Wingall, Quinn Sorbello and Elijah Rose traveled to Romania alongside coach Chuck Andraka and fellow team member Guha Ekambram of Austin, Texas. The competition took place in an abandoned salt mine where there is little wind and vast amounts of empty space to fly the model airplanes. The objective was to see who could fly their airplanes the highest for the longest duration.…

New Mexico calabacitas make the perfect side dish for any holiday meal. Traditionally, the dish is served without ground beef, but a little extra protein adds more flavor and will help satisfy those with endless pits inside their bellies. Calabcitas are a great dish year-round, especially when fresh garden-grown zucchini or squash is available, but it also adds a little zing to a Christmas ham, Thanksgiving turkey or any holiday meal. Many New Mexicans will already have most of the ingredients needed in their kitchen. If not, be sure to grab these items on your next trip to the supermarket:…

Finding geocaches may not be as dangerous as searching for Forest Fenn’s treasure, but there are some risks, as well as plenty of excitement and adventure. There are dozens of geocaches in the far Northeast Heights, ranging from easy to difficult to pro level. Some have trackables, others encrypted messages and some have nothing at all. Anyone with the geocache coordinates, a map and compass can find the hidden treasures, but a cellphone and the Geocaching app are the most common tools used by cache hunters. A cache, or geocache, is a location where people hide objects and messages for…

Performance is not dictated just by how hard one trains, but also the mentality athletes bring to the game. Frontline Elite Training teaches both hard work and confidence, something former University of New Mexico running back Daryl Chestnut says separates the good from the best. “I’m bringing the attitude from Miami. We’re bringing a different type of asset — from our ability to our movement — the mental Miami attitude is having nothing but confidence,” Chestnut said. “We’re all confident. All of the guys that I’ve trained are extremely confident. He feels like he’s the best 11-year-old out here, and…

Elementary school students wrapped their fall semester up on Tuesday with a performance of “The Polar Express.”After weeks of rehearsals, kids at Sombra Del Monte Elementary School were finally able to show off their acting and singing skills to parents. The show began with students walking in front of parents as a makeshift Polar Express train before singing “Must Be Santa.”The Polar Express rolls in before students sing “Must Be Santa”Kids took on the roles of the train conductor, Santa Claus and reindeer. Teachers provided some assistance with getting the little actors in place and reminding them of their lines,…

Wednesday is the first day of winter, which means it’s time to pull out the inner tubes and sleds and journey up the mountain to the Capulin Snow Play Area for hours of frigid fun. According to the Cibola National Forest website, the snow play area is officially open to sledders and inner tube enthusiasts. On Tuesday, Dec. 13, the area was closed after a moderate snowstorm passed through the mountains that offered cross-country skiing opportunities for some. Although no new snow has accumulated on the mountain since then, as of Monday, Dec. 19, the snow play area was open…

All the tributaries who participated in the 4:30 p.m. Hunger Games Escape Room at Cherry Hills Library were eliminated from the game on Monday. Tributaries had to work together (or against each other) to unlock boxes and bags with clues to help escape and become Hunger Games victors. Each tributary had two lives, or green dots, that if taken meant they were eliminated and would have to watch from the sidelines. Several tributaries lost one life throughout the hour-long game, but in the end, nobody could open the last bag to help them escape, and all joined the fallen. The…

School ratings are a major factor for prospective homeowners trying to decide what neighborhood to buy in. The Neighborhood Journal will feature a different school in northeast and northwest Albuquerque each week to help readers understand how schools in those neighborhoods are performing. Below you will find stats and rankings from greatschools.org to help navigate school scores in your neighborhood. Desert Ridge Middle School Desert Ridge Middle School began serving families in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights in 1997. The school mascot is the Diamondbacks, and the current principal is Leslie Saucedo. GreatSchools Ratings  Desert Ridge Middle School has a 9/10 rating, and three of…