Gilroy High School

Coordinates: 36°59′46″N 121°34′32″W / 36.99611°N 121.57556°W / 36.99611; -121.57556

Gilroy High School is a co-educational public school located in Gilroy, California, that serves the city of Gilroy. It is one of two public comprehensive high schools in the city and has an approximate enrollment of 1,500 students.

History

Gilroy High School opened in 1912 at the site that now houses South Valley Middle School on IOOF Ave. The campus moved to its current location in 1978.

Curriculum

Gilroy High offers a variety of course options. There are more than 15 Advanced Placement courses offered. There are a variety of fine arts, such as choir, band, drama, and art. There are many Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, including automotive mechanics, animation, culinary arts, floral design, and sports medicine.

Starting with the Class of 2018, all students are expected to meet the University of California A-G entrance requirements. In addition, beginning with the Class of 2013, all students must complete 80 hours of community service during their high school careers.

Gilroy High is one of the few high schools offering Project Lead the Way's Biomedical Sciences program. This four-year program allows students to investigate the roles of biomedical professionals as they study the concepts of human medicine, physiology, genetics, microbiology, and public health.^[1]

Gilroy High completes the District's Spanish Dual Immersion K-12 Program by offering classes such as Biology in Spanish.

Extracurricular activities

Gilroy High has a wide variety of extracurricular activities, including an extensive athletics program.

The Associated Student Body (ASB) is the student government, and runs many events and activities, such as dances, blood drives, and spirit days. The Link Crew helps to unite the student body.

There are a variety of clubs on campus. Some of these include an art club, auto club, drama club, science club, and the sister cities club.

Athletics

The school's mascot is the mustang and all athletic teams representing the school go by the mustang nickname. The school's colors are blue, white, and gold. All of the school's athletic teams compete in the Central Coast Section (CCS).

The wrestling team at Gilroy High School has had much success, winning its thirteenth straight CCS championships in 2015 while having Coach Greg Varella and Assistant Coach Marco Sanchez named California State Coaches of the Year.^[2] Gilroy also placed second in state in 2008. The team has produced six state champions in the span of six years. Jesse Delgado, who wrestled at Gilroy High School and the University of Illinois, has gone on to have much success in his college career winning the NCAA title at 125 pounds in 2013 and 2014.

The boys' soccer team has been successful in seasons past, winning the Tri-County Athletic League (TCAL) title in 2006–2007, while also winning the 2006–2007 CCS championship. Gilroy defeated Bellarmine College Preparatory in the CCS final, 2-0 and ended the season ranked among the top 12 teams in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).^[3]

The football team has also had successful seasons, advancing to the CCS championship game in 2008 while winning the TCAL title in the same year.

The Girls Varsity Field Hockey team won the MTAL League nine years in a row while being undefeated in league play. During the 2010–11 season, they joined the BVAL in the Mount Hamilton Division. The 2008–09 and 2009–10 teams both reached the CCS semi-finals. The 2010–2011 team reached the CCS championship game.

The Boys Varsity Track and Field team won the CCS team championship in 2011.

Awards and recognition

Gilroy High received California's Distinguished School Awards in 1994 and 2009.

Incidents

On October 3, 1995, a gang-related fight occurred on campus involving Carlos Vaca, Marcos Valdez, Pavel Zapata, and Gerardo Avila. The unrest began when Carlos was pushed into Marcos during an already active fight. The fight climaxed when Carlos was stabbed with a five-inched blade repeatedly during the fight. The wounds he sustained were fatal and later died from his injuries. Marcos, Pavel, and Gerado were all charged with his murder.^[4]

In 2009, the school faced a violent outbreak of students during their lunch while reviewers from the California School Recognition Program were on campus for consideration of awarding them for distinguished academic performance. There were already 5 police officers on campus because of an earlier incident during the schools brunch involving two members of rival gangs. The fight started when one of the members threw oatmeal at the other. When campus security couldn't control the situation, an administrator called the police. Both were arrested. Later during lunch another fight started. This time it involved multiple people. It quickly escalated when students began throwing food at each other and began aimlessly punching other. 30 police officers in were needed to stop the riot. The school was released early in order to prevent further disruptions. At least 7 students were arrested that day.^[5]

In 2009, Alberto Gomez Vicuna was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 14-year-old girl. Vicuna was an Algebra I teacher and worked out of room P-5 according to the school's website. The victim did not attend Gilroy High School, but met Vicuna through a social networking site known as Tagged.com. Vicuna posed as a 15-year-old boy and had many profiles set up with at least 100 female friends, most of them being 13–17 years old. The Gilroy Unified School District placed Vicuna on indefinite administrative leave and his school profile was removed from the GHS website. Police still haven't confirmed if the sex was consensual.^[6]

Notable alumni

• Elizabeth Archer (class of 1981): First female caddy in the Masters golf tournament in 1983, for her father George Archer.
• John Canzano (class of 1989): Sports columnist/TV/Radio commentator, Associated Press Sports Editors award winner in column writing and investigative reporting.
• Jason Conrad (class of 2008): professional basketball player^[7]
• Jesse Delgado (class of 2010): collegiate wrestler for the Illinois Illini of the University of Illinois. He is a two-time (2013, 2014) NCAA National Wrestling champion at the 125 pound weight class.^[8]
• Jeff Garcia (class of 1989): professional football quarterback in the Canadian Football League (CFL) (1994–1998), NFL (1999–2009), and UFL (2010); four-time CFL West Division All-Star and four-time NFL Pro Bowl selection; was quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers from 1999 to 2003^[9]
• Chris Gimenez (class of 2001): professional baseball player ^[10]
• Charles Gubser (class of 1932): Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for California's 10th congressional district from 1953 to 1974; taught at the school (then known as Gilroy Union High School) from 1939 to 1943^[11]
• Robert Guerrero (class of 2001): professional boxer^[12]
• Spider Ledesma (class of 1982): American professional basketball player
• Alfonso Motagalvan (class of 2004): professional soccer player
• John Ordway (class of 1968): American ambassador
• Kevin Rubio (class of 1986): filmmaker and writer ^[13]
• Randy Spendlove (class of 1982): record producer, songwriter, Grammy Award winner, and music executive.
• Olga Talamante: Chicana political activist

Notable staff

• Marco Sanchez: Wrestler for Puerto Rico at the 1996 Summer Olympic games.^[14] Current principal.
• Mark Speckman: American gridiron football coach and former player. Former football head coach at Gilroy High School for the 1983–85 seasons.

See also

• Gilroy Unified School District

External links

• Gilroy High School Website
• Gilroy Unified School District Website

References