Don Bosco Technical Institute

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This article is about the school in Rosemead, California. For The Italian saint, see John Bosco. For other uses, see Don Bosco Technical Institute (disambiguation).

Don Bosco Technical Institute

Motto	"Reason , Religion , and Kindness"
Established	1955
Type	Private secondary (Parochial)
Principal	Rev. Mike Gergen, S.D.B.
Students	950 (as of Winter 06)
Grades	9–12
Location	Rosemead, California USA
Mascot	Tigers
Newspaper	The Tech Times Weekly (defunct)
Website	boscotech.edu

Don Bosco Technical Institute is an all-male high school in Rosemead, California, combining college-preparatory academic courses and technological education (technology programs are listed below). Students select four quarter-long technology courses to take during their Freshman year in the high school program, and at the end of that year, they select one of those four to continue with throughout the next three years. Students can graduate in four years with a high school diploma.^[1]

1 School Program
2 History
3 Technology programs
4 Trivia
5 Notable Alumni/Students
6 See also
7 External links
8 References

[edit] School Program

Bosco Tech offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities as well as sports. The sports program includes football, basketball, cross country,golf ,track and field, soccer, baseball, tennis, and volleyball. Extracurricular activities include art, cultural awareness, community service, and animation clubs, campus ministry groups, debate teams, honor societies, and musical bands. Although the school may be based on Catholic values, it is entirely interdenominational; students of any faith or religious persuasion may attend.^[1]

The school is located in the San Gabriel Valley, 10 miles (16 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, just north of the Pomona Freeway (CA-60) in the city of Rosemead, California. It occupies approximately thirty acres.

A nearly 5 million dollar effort to upgrade and create athletic facilities for the athletes at Bosco Tech were recently completed. Also, new academic buildings are planned to be constructed within the school, providing high-tech classrooms for the teachers and students. The new buildings will enable every teacher in the school to have their own room. The start and completion of the buildings are TBD.

[edit] History

Don Bosco Technical Institute began in 1955, with the help of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Salesian Society, and the industrial leaders of the Greater Los Angeles Area. ^[1]

The school first opened its doors in 1955, following the Salesian trade-school model offering young men a chance to learn a trade. As time went on, and due to its proximity to many Southern California defense contractors, the school grew from a trade school to a technology school. Many young men were excited to have a high school that combined college-prep courses with technology classes.

The school was intended to mimic the average man's work day, until the late 1980s, the hours were from 7:30am to 4:00pm (9 to 5 job). This was very hectic for students who had an after-school job or were involved in an extracurricular activity. Some students till this day, feel their tech is actually somewhat of a job experience to them. At the end of the school year of 2006, the school day hours were shorted to 7:55 am to 3:05 pm.

School administration contends that the school added its 5th year college program. Its college division (Don Bosco College of Science & Technology) began its optional "Five-year" program which gives students the opportunity to complete minimum secondary education requirements in three years followed by a two-year Junior college program leading to an Associate of Science degree, both on the same campus. School Administrators contend that it was also an attempt at keeping graduates from being drafted into the Vietnam War, but a search through early records will reveal that the program was established several years earlier. This program was discontinued at the end of the 2006 school year.

It has always maintained a legacy of academic excellence, but gained the reputation of a "tech" school. Academically, the school sees other local schools (Loyola, Harvard-Westlake ,La Salle, Crespi, St. Francis, Bishop Amat, Serra, Cantwell, and Cathedral) as peers, though none have the technology education offered by the Tech. It also is located close to two other Salesian-based high schools, Salesian in Boyle Heights and St. John Bosco in Bellflower. Its students hail from all over the Greater Los Angeles area; with some students traveling more than an hour’s commute each day to the school.

The school has had some success at sports throughout the year (especially cross country and basketball), but the academic rigor of the school has probably limited its success. It used to offer sports such as water polo and wrestling. It has recently received some recognition for golf and football. It's most recognizable rivalries are with Serra High School of Gardena, Crespi Carmelite High School of Encino and (with an intense reputation) Cathedral High School (Los Angeles, California) of Los Angeles.

More advanced forms of technology formed over the years and many techs were added or reformed. The school has grown in size since its 55' opening and has been recognized for its renowned debate team. It has a special relationship with its "sister schools," Ramona Convent in Alhambra, San Gabriel Mission High School in San Gabriel, and Alverno in Sierra Madre.

It was named for the founder of the Salesian Society, Saint John Bosco, who was a 19th century Italian priest who established technical schools to give boys the skills they need to be craftsmen and leaders.^[1]

The current mascot, the Tiger, was adopted after a student vote in 1986. The school did not have an official mascot before this, and the school's students were referred to as the "Techmen."

Beginning in the Fall of 2006, the college division of Bosco Tech will cease operations due to perceived lack of interest in the program and lack of funding. Upon this being announced in October 2004, controversy erupted from underclassmen who were promised the choice of taking the program. In recent school years, the number of applicants to the school has gone down. In response, many reforms have been proposed, including going co-ed.

The school's sophomore counselor, Brad Stolz, appeared on the weekly Tiger TV broadcast with video from his recent trips from 1976 to 2006. Notable trips include Madagascar (during the December 2004 tsunami), Aruba, South Africa, Fiji, and New Zealand. In March 2006, he was interviewed by Pope Benedict XVI as to whether his college friend, William Joseph Levada, should become cardinal. This ended when Tiger TV was dissolved and replaced by the Bosco Television Network.

Bosco Tech continues to serve young men in the science of technology, Don Bosco's teachings, and offers a sense of brotherly love throughout the years.

[edit] Technology programs

Computer Science (CS) (formerly part of Electronics)
Construction (CT, formerly Building Technology (BT), and before that Cabinet Making)
Design (DE, formerly Drafting and Design (DR))
Electronics (EL)
Graphic Communications (GC, formerly Photolithography (PH), and before that Printing)
Management (MA) (part of the college division, now closed)
Materials Science (MS, formerly Metallurgy (ME))
Manufacturing (MT, formerly MA), and before that Machine Shop
Power & Transportation (PT, formerly Automotive (AU))

[edit] Trivia

One of the school’s original cheers saluted the inherent "geek" status of the students at a technical high school.

Secant, tangent, cosine, sine

Three point one four, one five nine

Slide rule, slide rule, sis boom bah

Bosco Tech, beat them raw!

The world famous rock band Van Halen played at a Bosco Tech music show in 1972. Bosco Tech had to pay the then "garage-band" $200 to play at the school's show.

[edit] Notable Alumni/Students

Surveys show that seventy-three percent of Bosco's graduates are working in engineering, math, science or technology-related professions. Some, however, have made a name in other professions.

Michael Garciaparra - Drafted by Seattle in the supplemental 1st round (36th overall) of the 2001 June draft with the pick awarded to the Mariners. Brother of Nomar Garciaparra from St. John Bosco High School.
Jay Hernandez - Actor (Attended but did not graduate) ^[2] ^[3]
Joseph Pizzorno - President and co-founder of Bastyr University in Bellevue, Washington.
Alex Meruelo - President and CEO of Meruelo Enterprises, Inc., Cantamar Property Management, Inc. and founder of La Pizza Loca, Inc.
Wayne Engelstad - NBA Basketball player
Nick Spano