Poway High School

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Location
Poway High School
15500 Espola Road Poway, California United States of America
Information
School district	Poway Unified School District
Principal	Scott Fisher
Enrollment	3,045^[1] (2007)
Type	Public secondary
Grades	9-12
Motto	Faithful Titans we will be through our years to you
Mascot	Titan
Color(s)	Green, Gray
Established	September 1961
ASB Executive Cabinet	President-Brett Friedman Vice Presidents- Jonathan Klaren & Kevin Jenkins Treasurer- Vanessa Kropf Secretary- Kristina Elkus^[2]
Newspaper	The Iliad
Yearbook	Odyssey
Homepage	Poway High School

Poway High School (PHS) is a public, comprehensive high school located in the city of Poway, California. Established in 1961, it serves ninth through twelfth grade students from the communities of Poway and Rancho Bernardo. The school mascot is the titan. Poway is the oldest high school in the Poway Unified School District.

Poway High School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. First granted in 1965, the current accreditation is valid through 2008. Poway High School is both a California Distinguished School Award winner (1999) and a National Blue Ribbon School (1990/91).

1 Campus
2 Extracurricular activities
3 Day of Silence incident
4 Notable alumni
5 External links

[edit] Campus

The campus is in northern San Diego County, approximately 35 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. The campus covers 59 acres (238,765 m²).

[edit] Extracurricular activities

[edit] Athletics

Poway's athletic teams, the Titans, compete in the Palomar League and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) San Diego Section.

The school fields teams in 19 sports: gymnastics, baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, roller hockey, soccer, softball, swim, dive, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling.

The wrestling program has won three state championships, 57 different CIF division awards, and numerous Palomar League awards.

The 2007 football team finished the season 12-0 and were the CIF Division I champions.

The Girls Golf team won the 2006 CIF State Championship and the 2006 CIF San Diego Section Championship.

[edit] Emerald Brigade Marching Band

The PHS marching band is called the Emerald Brigade, and competes in the Western Band Association (WBA) circuit, the Marching Band Open Series (WGASC) as well as the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association (SCSBOA) circuit. The Emerald Brigade is accompanied by a color guard. With over 250 members, the band is one of the largest organizations in Southern California and competes in the 6A division. The band has won several field show awards at the Arcadia Tournament of Champions including Band, Music, and General Effect Sweeps in 2005, Percussion and Visual Sweeps in 2006, and Visual Sweeps in 2007. Their recent field show music includes:

The Tell-Tale Heart by: Key Poulan & Edgar Allan Poe (2007)
The Magic of Queen by: Queen (band) (2006)
The Emerald Express a.k.a. Locomotion by: Key Poulan (2005)
Circuitry by: Key Poulan (2004)

Their recent parade band competition music includes:
The Southerner by: Russell Alexander (2007)
The Directorate by: John Phillip Sousa (2006)
Army of the Nile by: Kenneth Alford (2005)
The Gladiator by: John Phillip Sousa (2004)

[edit] Instrumental Music

The music program consists of several bands: Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and the top band Wind Symphony. String Ensembles include Symphony Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra. Also, Poway has a Jazz Band and a Concert Percussion Ensemble. The Percussion Ensemble replaced the percussion Winterline shows in 2007. All groups consistently receive Superior ratings at the El Camino and district Festival competitions.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, the Poway High School music program was designated a Grammy Signature School by the Grammy Foundation.

[edit] Choral Music

Poway High School also boasts one of the most successful choral programs in Southern California, and the entire United States, under the direction of Nancy Gray. The school has 6 choral groups, of which 3 are audition-only. The choirs, from more novice to more advanced are:

Beginning Women's Choir
Men's Choir
Concert Choir
Women's Ensemble
Festival Choir
Die Lieder Singers

In 2006, Poway's chamber group, the Die Lieder Singers won the annual Festival of Gold in Chicago, scoring a 94.67 on a 6-song festival set adjudicated by 3 judges.

Poway's choral music department is also known for its extremely successful musical productions every spring. The last few shows have been:

Musicman (2008) - Meredith Wilson
The Secret Garden (2007) - Marsha Norman & Lucy Simon
Les Misérables (2006) - Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schöenberg
Beauty and the Beast (2005) - Alan Menken & Tim Rice
The Pirates of Penzance (2004) - Gilbert & Sullivan
Oklahoma! (2003) - Rodgers & Hammerstein

[edit] Day of Silence incident

On August 22, 2004, Poway junior Tyler Chase Harper came to school wearing a t-shirt with masking tape on the front and back, upon which was written "Homosexuality is shameful - Romans 1:27" and "Be ashamed, our school has embraced what God condemned." [1] The incident occurred one day after the Day of Silence, a national protest staged by high-school students against homophobia and sponsored by several state and national gay rights organizations. Harper was sent to the principal's office by a teacher, where he was asked to remove the tape; he refused.. He then was forced to stay in the school's office until the end of the school day.

The incident garnered a minor amount of attention in local and national media as an example of tensions in schools arising from homophobia and religious freedom. California, at the time, was in the process of reforming domestic partnership laws (see Domestic partnership in California).

Backed by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal group, Harper eventually sued the district, claiming a violation of his right to free speech. The case was eventually heard before a federal judge, but was thrown out, with the judge in the case ruling that the message was disruptive and needlessly offensive.

[edit] Notable alumni

Jud Buechler -- Former NBA Player most notably for the Chicago Bulls.^{[citation needed]}
Kellye Cash -- Miss America 1987.
Tom DeLonge (1994) -- Vocalist and Guitarist of pop-punk/alternative rock bands Blink-182, Box Car Racer, and Angels & Airwaves.
Tony Gwynn Jr. -- MLB Player Milwaukee Brewers, son of Padre Hall of Famer.^{[citation needed]}
Bobby Lee -- Comedian on MADtv.^{[citation needed]}
James Meetze -- Poet, author of the books I Have Designed This For You, Serenades, and Instrument. Lecturer at University of California, San Diego.^{[citation needed]}
Dave Smith-- 13-year major league relief pitcher with the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs
Catherine Opie (1979) -- Photographer and Professor of Art at University of California, Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}
Phil Plantier -- Former Major League Baseball player.^{[citation needed]}*Stephanie Seymour -- Victoria's Secret model.^{[citation needed]}
Drew Wahlroos -- Linebacker for the St. Louis Rams.^{[citation needed]}
Marvel Wynne II -- soccer defender, who currently plays for Toronto FC of Major League Soccer. Wynne played two years of college soccer at UCLA, where he was named First Team All-American in 2005, and was part of the Under-20 team at the 2005 World Youth Championship.