There’s no way around it. It’s been a tumultuous year at Gilroy
High School. But now, just a few days before the class of 2004
takes its place in history, it is time for some perspective and
reflection.
There’s no way around it. It’s been a tumultuous year at Gilroy High School. But now, just a few days before the class of 2004 takes its place in history, it is time for some perspective and reflection.
Between the shooting threat directed at a teacher, extraordinary teacher dismissals and the raging controversy over the reading list and honors classes, Gilroy High news has been a local mainstay on our front page.
But the truth is, we tend to remember the “negative” news, so it’s worthwhile to spend some time on earnest evaluation. Also making a splash as front-page news were many positive stories – stories that also “had legs” as they say in journalism.
The incredible run of a soccer team which exhibited heart, togetherness and verve all the way to the Central Coast Section finals comes quickly to mind. One story summed it up in a headline: “Heart + Passion != Perfect Season.” The Mustangs went undefeated before falling in the CCS finals. Our editorial reflected upon an amazing season: “This is a team that has won on determination, guts and, dare we say it, love. At the season’s outset, players signed pledges that reflected personal commitments to themselves and each other, and, as a group, they developed goals for the team … Gilroy’s Mustangs haven’t necessarily been the bigger, stronger, faster players that make up a typical championship team … What they do have is togetherness and a coaching duo that has extracted the utmost effort from each team member. Armando Padilla and Brian Hall …”
The soccer team wasn’t the only inspiring group making beautiful music. The band, under the direction of Joey Fortino, and the choir, under Phil Robb’s hand, continued what is clearly a tradition of excellence.
The band captured third place in Class A (bands with 60 members or less) in the Western Band Association’s state finals.
“It was quite an event, and it was a lot of fun, and these students really work their tails off,” Fortino said. “They did an excellent job this year. The kids came a long way …”
For seven years, the band has been making huge strides.
Meanwhile, the Gilroy High Chamber Singers toured Germany and the Czech Republic on a 10-day blitz. Robb has taken the hard-working singers abroad every three years since the mid-80s, each time visiting Gilroy’s sister city of Takko-Machi, Japan.
But it was time for a change, so the students had a chance to see and sing in European churches, a monastery and even a concentration camp. Wrote one parent chaperone, “On the night before we were to travel back home, the members of the choir sang in a monastery in Beroun called St. John Beneath the Cliff. It seems the choir saved the best for last. As I listened, I wished that each one of their parents could have been there to witness this wonderful scene. The audience gave them a standing ovation, as did the audiences at each previous concert.”
There is more, of course. Under the careful eye of journalism teacher Elizabeth Dirks, The Free Press earned national distinction again winning a Pacemaker Award by the National Scholastic Press Association and Newspaper Association of America.
“It basically is the award that is given to a very small number of newspapers that are considered to be the best in the county,” reported Dirks.
The list of positives is much longer … a spring open house has become a showcase event, numerous physical improvements have been planned for the campus this summer and, with tongue in cheek, let’s count the new policy that forbids fast food deliveries for lunch among the positives.
As the year ends, a word of caution – let’s end on a positive note, making sure that the celebration following graduation does not end in tragedy. Parents be sure to remind your students drinking and driving don’t mix.
We salute Gilroy High’s graduates and all the staff who supported our students through this tumultuous year.
There were lessons learned and accolades earned. Hopefully, we are better for it all.
