Galt High School

Galt High School
Location
145 North Lincoln Way Galt, California United States
Coordinates	38°15′23″N 121°17′57″W / 38.25639°N 121.29917°W / 38.25639; -121.29917Coordinates: 38°15′23″N 121°17′57″W / 38.25639°N 121.29917°W / 38.25639; -121.29917
Information
Type	Public
School district	Galt Joint Union High School District
Principal	Maria Orr ^[1]
Asst. Principal	Kelly Beck Alejo Padilla^[1]
Faculty	55.2 (on FTE basis)^[2]
Grades	9 to 12
Enrollment	948 ^[2] (2012–13)
Student to teacher ratio	18.9:1^[2]
Mascot	Warrior
Website	Galt High School

Galt High School, a WASC accredited school, is one of three available high schools within Galt, California.

History

Galt High School was established on October 20, 1911 as a result of Dr. Montegue combining efforts with J.W. Reese to form a high school district in Galt, California. The city of Galt had an election to decide whether Galt High should be built. The vote tally was 141 yes and 40 no.^[3] In 1911 after the opening of the school, there were six teachers, three females and three males. The first subjects taught were English, Latin, Math, composition, and music. The first graduate of Galt High was Katherine Reynolds.^[3]

The first official high school was built in 1913. The second Galt High School was burned down in 1924. The third Galt High was completed in 1927. This school was built prior to earthquake safety laws and was ordered to be demolished in 1948. The school the students attend now is the fourth Galt High School.^[3] In the 2011-2012 school year, to celebrate Galt High School's 100 years of history, Galt alumni searched for fellow graduates to join the celebration. Galt High School had a week-long celebration which included an alumni football game, rallies, contests for boys and girls, and floats made by current and past high school students.^[4]

Recently the class of 2012 changed the name of the Galt High library to V. Nunez-M. Yenokida library. It was named after Vesta Nunez and Michiye Yenokida, who served twelve and twenty-seven years, respectively, as Galt High's librarians.^[5]

Their school colors are red and white with black trim, and their school mascot is the Warrior.^[1]

Galt High School also has a large Agricultural department, which is connected with the organization Future Farmers of America. Vocational Agriculture started in 1922 and Galt joined FFA in 1929, but it was not organized until 1938.^[3] The Agriculture department, coined the AG-department, features many class, such as Ag Environmental Science, Integrated AG Biology, AG Physiology/Anatomy, AG Economics and Government. The electives are Mechanics, Floral Design, Construction, and Leadership. There have been ten past state California State FFA officers from Galt. The first was the 1974-1975 Treasurer Dennis Johnson. The most recent was Vincent Pellegri President from 2010-2011. The current California State FFA president is Hannah Garret. In April 2013, one of Galt High School's own seniors Gabrielle Franke, was elected secretary in California's state office.^[6] Dane White, an AG teacher at Galt High, was the State Sentinel in 1999-2000 and he was the National President from 2001-2002. Over the years, Galt has won many awards, including the 2010-2011 National Champions Marketing Plan Team.^[7]

According to the 2011-2012 Student Handbook, general graduation requirements for graduation include: passing the California High School Exit Exam; Acquiring 220 credits; successfully completing all prescribed courses; and students should earn no fewer than 50 semester credits per year in each of the first 3 academic years of high school in order to be considered progressing.^[8]

In 1936, Galt High school chose Willy the Warrior as the mascot to replace the milkers. Later the mascot was changed to the chiefs but now the current mascot is the warrior. ^[9]

Nowadays, the school offers many fun activities such as rallies, spirit weeks, Friday lunch activities, and more. Safety is taken very seriously as demonstrated by frequent fire drills, earthquake drills, and even shooting type scenarios. GHS holds an assembly each year for freshmen to prevent gang associations.

Athletics

Galt High School has many sports teams, including men's basketball, baseball, football, wrestling, and soccer, and women's basketball, softball, soccer, cheer, and volleyball. Swim, Track and Field, golf, tennis, and Cross Country are also offered each year and are co-ed. There is an annual Powder Puff football event in which the women play touch football, usually held in the fall. Alumni Zach Phillips and Ryan Mattheus, both of whom made Major League debuts in 2011, will have their jersey numbers retired by their alma mater.

Mrs. Beck, GHS assistant principal, is the self-proclaimed number one supporter of the men's soccer team. The varsity team made it to the section finals, but they lost their section finals against Vista Del Lago. The score was 1-0. Even though they lost their sections final, the soccer family came together and supported each other. " The whole team did an amazing job," said Mrs. Beck. Not only did they succeed on the soccer field, they also succeeded in school. None of the original enlisted players were kicked off the team for poor grades. Javier Munoz, a senior and team captain, was able to obtain a full scholarship to Sacramento State University due to his performance and leadership. GHS men's soccer team made an outstanding season for year 2012-13.^[10]

Galt High School has a rich history of football championships. They have won nineteen championships: 1940, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1964, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989, and 1997.

For the first time in eighty-nine years, Galt High School football forfeited a game due to previous injuries, in the preseason of 2012. The team only had fourteen players that were able to play in the game against Argonaut High School.

In order to participate in extra curricular activities and athletics, students must maintain a C average grade or a 2.0 gpa. Activities such as student council and FFA requires a higher grade point average of 3.0. Students who receive grades below a C or 2.0 gpa but above a 1.49 average are eligible to receive a one time waver during their four years of attending Galt High School.

VAPA (Visual and Performing Arts)

The school's VAPA system is shared with the other high schools in Galt. Most notably, the Galt Liberty Unified Ensembles is the district-wide music program. The program includes marching band, concert band, winter percussion, and choir. The band's history actually stretches back all the way to the very beginning, and continues to thrive under the direction of Kevin Tarrant. Under his leadership, the schools have been united much more than before, making its band live up to its acronym, GLUE. The school is also home to a theatre group, Infinite Theatre Group, headed by drama teacher, James Nunes. Under his leadership, the drama department flourishes and continues to produces musicals and plays for students and teachers.

Clubs

Galt High School offers many clubs and organizations such as: - ACE Mentor - Asian Culture Club - Aztec Club - BEST Academy - California Scholarship Federation (CSF) - Drama Club - Future Farmer's of America (FFA) - G-tech - German - GTV - Interact - Key Club - Letterman Honor Society (LHS) - Migrant Program.

Issues

Throughout the years leading up to the 2009-2010 academic years, Galt High School faced problems of overcrowding because it was the only school available in the area. Students from Galt, Herald, Wilton, Acampo, and Thorton all attended Galt High. However, a second high school, Liberty Ranch High, was built to offset the large amount of students from the ever-increasing population of the Central Valley.

In February 1997, Galt High's criminal justice class was subjected to a search via drug-sniffing canines. A student by the name of Jacob Reed refused the search and was escorted to the principal's office where his personal belongings were searched. The search turned up no evidence of illegal drug paraphernalia. Meanwhile, back in the classroom student Chris Sulamo's jacket created a false alarm with the dogs, but Chris wanted a police officer present before the search continued. Nothing illegal was found on either of the students in the classroom. Due to this random search the ACLU was contacted and a lawsuit was filed, claiming an invasion of privacy, which is unconstitutional. Galt High Board of Trustees agreed to drop the drug-sniffing dog program if the lawsuit was also dropped. Part of the agreement was also to remove the suspension of Sulamo.^[11]

On July 13, 2012 Assistant Principal Robert "Bob" Rappeleye was arrested for assault at Greenhorn Creek Golf course in Angels Camp,CA for striking a man with his golf club on the 18th hole. The dispute revolved around the pace of play, as Mr. Rappleye's group allegedly complained about how slow the victim's group was playing. None of the news reports covered Mr. Rappleye's version of events.^[12]

Rumors indicate that the charges against Mr. Rappleye were recently dropped.

On Wednesday April 3, 2013, Galt High school had an emergency preparedness drill. The drill was to test the students, staff, and Galt PD reaction if there so happened to be an active shooter on campus. The students and staff practiced emergency response, the critical decisions and notifications for 40 minutes. The police officers were also showing students evasive maneuvers to stay safe when a real situation like this occurs. Students were screaming with fake blood while being "shot" by blank bullets.^[13]