Santa Monica High School

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Santa Monica High School Vikings
Santa Monica High School Vikings
School name Santa Monica High
School Type Public
Established 1884
Website http://www.samohi.smmusd.org
Principal Dr. Hugo Pedroza
School District Santa Monica-Malibu Unified
Enrollment 3,700
Location Santa Monica, California
Mascot Victor and Vicky Viking
Colors Blue and Gold

Santa Monica High School (SMHS), informally known as Samohi or just Samo, is a secondary school located in Santa Monica, California which was founded in 1884. It changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus on Pico Boulevard.

Santa Monica High School is a part of Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. It is located at 601 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, California 90405. The current school principal is Dr. Hugo Pedroza, who replaced Dr. Ilene Straus.

Contents

[edit] School mascot and traditions

The school mascots are Victor and Vicky Viking and the team is the Vikings. The school newspaper is The Samohi and the school yearbook is the Nautilus. These two school publications play in an annual kickball game called "The Battle for Jago's Cup". The winner of the game receives an engraved cup in honor of former English department chair, Carol Jago . Nautilus is the current holder of the cup. Yearbook won the 2006 cup by a victory of 6-5, though it is important to note that "The Samohi's" star player, Daniel Galdjie, was unable to attend due to personal conflicts. It is widely believed that had Galdjie played, "The Samohi" would have had a clear advantage. "Nautlius"' pitcher/coach Romtin Parvaresh was named MVP of the match and he dedicated the award to a free, democratic Iran.

The pep rallies are held in the Greek Theater. They are opened by the singing of the national anthem by the Chamber Singers, and they are closed with the singing of the Hymn of Praise by the Madrigal Ensemble.

[edit] Clubs

Student activity clubs include:

  • 08 Club
  • Class of '09
  • A Better Us
  • Advocates for a Clean Campus
  • Anime Club
  • Art Club
  • Asian Club
  • Athletic Promotion and Awareness Club
  • AVID Club
  • AVID 08
  • Badminton Club
  • Baha'i Club
  • Ballroom Dance Club
  • Blue Crew
  • Bread Club
  • Breakfast Club
  • Bridge Club
  • Chinese Club
  • Circle of Friends
  • Civil Rights Club
  • Club Amani
  • Club Of Nations
  • Community Service Club
  • Computer Programming Club
  • Digital Vido Productions/ Studies
  • Drama Club
  • Earth's Advocates
  • Family Guy Club http://www.samohi.smmusd.org/Students/clubs/index.htm
  • Fashion Club
  • Film Club
  • Freely Raising Awareness in N. Korea
  • French Club
  • Funk Appreciation Club
  • Get Buck Club
  • Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA)
  • Helping Others Prosper Everywhere
  • Homeless Helpers Ent.
  • Immersion Club
  • Improv Club
  • Intramural Sports Club
  • Invisible Children Club
  • Irish Dance Club
  • Jewish Student Union
  • Junior Investor League
  • Junior State of America
  • Key Club
  • La Sociedad
  • Latin Club
  • Leaders in Training
  • Light a Million Candles
  • Literature Club
  • Malaria Club
  • Math Circle
  • Meals on Wheels Club
  • Movimiento Estudianti Chicanalo
  • Ms. Lipitz Chemistry Club
  • Muslim Student Association
  • Musician Collaboration Club
  • New Orleans Relief Club
  • Ninjas VS Pirates
  • No Dub! Club
  • Nocturnal Aquatics Kineic
  • Environmental Discovery
  • Outreach for Kinds for Learning Academics
  • Photography Appreciation
  • Photography Club
  • Project Echo
  • Project Nightlight
  • Red Cross Club
  • Rock the Vote
  • Running with Speakers
  • Samohi Solar Alliance (SSA)
  • Samohi Tri-M
  • Santa Monica Deca
  • Seekers of Success
  • Senior Steering
  • Socialism Club
  • Sojourn to the Past
  • South Park Club
  • Stop-Motion Animation Club
  • Study Abroad Club
  • Students Opposed to Suffering (SOS) in Sudan
  • Surf Club
  • Sumo Club
  • Take a Break
  • Tea Club
  • Teleton Salvadoreno
  • Theme Park Enthusiasts
  • Tikkun Olam
  • Ultimate Frisbee Club
  • UNICEF
  • World Awareness Committee
  • Youth and Government
  • Virtual Enterprises
  • Running with Speakers, which provides AV support for faculty and students. It is linked with the digital video and news video classes and conducts an annual film festival of student films from across Los Angeles County.
  • The Junior Statesmen of America has an active branch on the campus. They generate their funds by a twice annual "Waffle Bucket".
  • The Key Club seeks to open the doors to community service.
  • Sorrento Sand & Sea Club

[edit] Samohi Music Department

[edit] Choral & Vocal Ensembles

The Santa Monica High School choral department is one of the most accomplished in the region, winning awards and competing regularly in state and national tournaments. With over 300 students now enrolled in the program, more funds are needed to maintain its rigorous standards. The program is made up of 10 different choirs that students can be apart of. The choral program ranges from large mixed choirs to chamber/madrigal ensembles, women choirs, men ensemble and jazz. The Jazz Ensemble meets after school on selected days of the week. In the past the choral department has travelled to New York City, Boston and most recently Honolulu, Hawaii to compete in a national choral competition where Samohi Chorale, Chamber Singers, Samohi Jazz Singers and Madrigals Ensemble recived 1st place with a gold rating. Santa Monica High School was then named the Grand Camps. Samohi has also competed in the Golden State Choral Compeitions (South). This year Madrigal Ensemble & Chamber Singers will travel to Italy to preform in cathedras around the country in April 2007. Samohi Chorale will also be taking a curise to Mexico to preform there as well. In addition to the regular Winter and Spring concerts, the choral department has a Masterworks Concert, Cathedral Classics Concert, and performs in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District's Stairway to the Stars, every year. At the end of each school year, awards are given out to outstanding students, Directors awards are given out to the section leaders. The Christopher Rhodes award is given to an outstanding student in the Samohi Chorale, and the Linda Allen Anderson Award, is given out to 2 students who have shown outstanding ability and devotion to the choral program, in the Madrigal Ensemble and/or Chamber Singers.

[edit] Orchestras

The orchestras are a nationaly known program and has recently been labeled as the best High School level orchestra in the nation in 2005. The orchestra program is made up of many different ensembles. Ranging from Beginning Strings to the large Symphony Orchestra. Some of the orchestras from Santa Monica High School have had the chance to travel around the nation. Symphony Orchestra has had that chance to prefrom in the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles. The orchestra has also recently travelled to the country of China and has in the past preformed in Prague, Czech Republic.

[edit] Band & Marching Band

The Santa Monica High School Viking Marching Band is one of the oldest high school marching bands in the state of California. Today the marching band competes in many different competitions in Southern California. In their 2006-2007 season, the marching band received several sweepstakes awards and participated for the first time in the 5A division championship, winning 9th place. The Marching Band also performs in a Disneyland Resort parade every year and is featured in all home varsity football games for the Samohi Vikings. Wind Ensmeble is also one of the most recognized high school bands in California. They will be performing in Carnegie Hall in May 2007. The Santa Monica High School band program is very well known, much like the choral and orchestra programs.

[edit] Memorable events

On May 9, 2005, Newsweek magazine, during its ranking of the 100 top high schools in America (a list of 1061 high schools), ranked SMHS as the 199th top high school. [1]

Samohi won a Power 106 FM contest in which Hip-Hop mogul Kanye West performed at the school. The concert took place on December 5, 2005 in the Greek Theater.

[edit] Racial tensions

On April 15, 2005, Samohi was put on lockdown after several fights broke out between some African-American and Latino students during the lunch period.[2] The police were called in and the school was put on a lockdown. As a result of the fighting, at least two police officers are permanently stationed on campus and students must show their school identification cards to enter or leave campus for lunch; when students leave for home ID's are not checked, and anyone after school is able to get on campus. This causes some concern, as it is just as easy for non-students to get on campus and still cause fights, which is why ID's were required in the first place.

Tension brewed once more on February 3, 2006 when students arrived at school to find racial epithets targeting African-Americans spray-painted on 4 different walls around the campus, along with the symbols of the Santa Monica Gangs, SM13 and SM17.[3] Retaliation graffiti was written through-out the day slandering both Latinos and African-Americans. Tensions reached a climax at lunch when Latino students stood on lunch tables demanding to know who wrote the original graffiti. A mediation session was set up in Barnum Hall to try to relieve these tensions--only those willing to talk it out participated.[4]

[edit] Principal called to resign

After a meeting on Friday, February 10, 2006, members of Samohi’s African American Parent/ Student/Staff Support Group (AAPSSSG) unanimously passed a resolution stating, “We request the termination of employment of Dr. Ilene Straus CEO/Principal of Samohi and that she not remain in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District because she is a clear and present danger to our children.”[5] This is a response by the group of their perception that Dr. Illene Straus inadequately handled the incidents involving groups of African-American and Latino students

[edit] Student death

On February 28, 2006, at around 9 p.m., sophomore Eduardo Lopez was shot and killed on the corner of Pico Boulevard and 26th Street in Santa Monica. Eyewitness reports said that a man in a hooded sweatshirt with a bandana over his face approached Lopez and two friends who were standing outside a convenience store on the corner. The gunman fired at the group of teenagers, hitting Lopez in the torso. He later died at a local hospital. Police did not suspect gang involvement in the shooting, seeing that the student had no known gang affiliation. [6] Lopez's death was reported to the students at the beginning of the school day on March 1st, and the flag was flown at half-mast for the next few days. The death of Lopez, who was an honors student and member of the baseball team, had a large effect on the student body, and additional counselors were brought onto campus to help students cope with the death. The school held a memorial service for Lopez, which was held on March 2nd, at 3pm. All students and members of the community were invited to join the service and mourn for the death of Eddie Lopez.

On Friday, March 10, a peace march was held, organized by the students, that went from the school to the site where Eddie died. This 20 block march through the city was meant to send a message to the citizens and act as a cry for peace in the area.

[edit] Filming location

The films "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Surf Ninjas" used the school as a location.


[edit] Standard Bell Schedule

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

  • Period A 7:12 - 8:08AM
  • Period 1 8:15 - 9:11AM
  • Homeroom 9:18 - 9:28AM
  • Period 2 9:28 - 10:24AM
  • Break 10:24 - 10:29AM
  • Period 3 10:36 - 11:32AM
  • Period 4 11:39 - 12:35PM
  • Lunch 12:35 - 1:10PM
  • Period 5 1:17 - 2:13PM
  • Period 6 2:20 - 3:16PM

[edit] Late Start Bell Schedule

Wednesday

  • Period A 8:45 - 9:30AM
  • Period 1 9:36 - 10:21AM
  • Period 2 10:28 - 11:13AM
  • Period 3 11:20 - 12:05PM
  • Lunch 12:05 - 12:40PM
  • Period 4 12:47 - 1:32PM
  • Period 5 1:39 - 2:24PM
  • Period 6 2:31 - 3:16PM

[edit] Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Santa Monica High School include:

[edit] Hymn of Praise (school song)

Oh Samohi, dear old Samohi,
Queen of the setting sun.
For you we toil, for you our banners fly,
We win for you when victory's won!
All hail to thee, mighty Samohi,
Our faith in thee ne'er will fail,
For the love that we give is thy power to live,
To thee, ALL HAIL!
-Ken Darby (Class of 1927)

[edit] Vikings Bold (school fight song)

Forward, They Go Together
Onward they surge ahead
Inward, they bond together to they very end
Waves Crash around the ship mast yet still they hold
Fast To the FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
For Samohi Vikings Bold!
-Carl Hammer (2003)

[edit] External links

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