Maria Carrillo High School

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1 History
2 Facts
3 Pranks
4 Clubs
5 External Links

[edit] History

Maria Carrillo High School was originally named after Maria Carrillo, the first woman to receive a land grant from the Spanish-Mexican government. The school opened in 1996, and its first graduating class was in 1999.

[edit] Facts

The school mascot is the Puma
The school's official colors are gold, green, and black.
Maria Carrillo has a reputation for high academic standards within Sonoma County, excelling in the performing arts, and having an excellent sports program.

[edit] Pranks

In 1999, the head stone of Maria Carrillo (the first settler of much of the Santa Rosa area) was stolen from a local cemetery and left in the main quad.
A recurring prank is the branding of a neighboring hill. The hill was first branded while Pam Devlin was principal in 1998. The hill was labeled with the numbers 4-20, the date which many know as the unofficial day for smoking marijuana. The principal ordered the hill to be changed, and Toby, a school truancy officer, changed it to H-20 within the hour. Later it was learned that this hill was private property, and the school submitted a public apology to the owner. In 2000, the junior class (class of 2001) carved 2001 into the hill as part of homecoming weekend. Within days, a group of seniors altered the 1 into a 0, leaving 2000. This began a tradition in which graduating classes have carved their year into the hill. Since the class of 2002, each successive graduating class has changed only the last digit to reflect the current seniors. Some believe that the last graduating class to show any originality was 2003--they are the only class since 2001 to place their year separate from the 2002 site. Various symbols have been carved: a Viking helmet (a prank done by local High School seniors at Montgomery High School before a football game, an anatomically incorrect depiction of male genitals and even a backwards swastika. In response to the outrage against the racist icon, a group of seniors scaled the hill that night to obscure the Nazi symbol, and placed a large peace sign as a positive response. Later that year, "Lexi, Prom?" appeared and the student was suspended for vandalism. There was a recent 15-acre fire in 2006 in close proximity to "graffiti hill." The owner of the land subsequently accused Carrillo students because of their recurrent trespassing on the property. After Carrillo student Jonathan Field's sudden death on December 6, 2006, his initials were inscribed within a heart on the hill. The death of Garrett Fogg also prompted the letters "GF" to be put on the hill in a heart.
In 2002, seniors painted the school's colors on a Ford Model T, took off the wheels, and propped it in the main quad.
In 2002, peace activists put up 50 straw figures all around campus with anti-war signs to protest the almost 50 Afghanistan civilans, who were attending a wedding party, that were killed by the US military.
In 2003, peace activists again put up many anti-war signs on buildings, roofs, and used chalk to depict anti-war messages to protest the Iraq invasion.
In 2005, seniors released several chickens in the main quad. It took all day for the janitors to retrieve the fowl from some of the towers and roofs across the campus.