BY EARLENE WARD - FOR THE SIERRA STAR
Administrators
in the Yosemite Joint Union High School District believe that students
who are active in school clubs, organizations and/or athletics generally
find high school to be a more rewarding experience. With that in
mind, the administration and district trustees are supportive of
the many extra-curricular activities available to students, including
a wide range of sports teams.
Clubs at YHS offer students an opportunity to pursue personal interests,
perform community service and expand their educational opportunities.
Organizations focus on activities related to classes at the school.
The athletic program offers numerous sports for both male and female
students and features team sports and individual sports.
“It is important for students to find a connection to school,” says
Yosemite High Principal Steve Raupp. “Students who are engaged in
extra-curricular activities perform better academically and enjoy
a well-rounded educational experience,” the principal says.
Diane Adney serves as the school’s activities director and Tom Fiormonti
is athletic director. They are both also assistant principals. Staff
members serve as advisors to each of the clubs and organizations
and as coaches for the athletic teams.
The Student Council is in charge of governance of the Yosemite High
School Associated Student Body (ASB). The council is composed of
elected ASB officers and the president and vice president of each
class. The Student Council forms the leadership class that meets
daily to conduct business and prepare and plan all student activities.
Adney teaches the leadership class.
“All of the activities at YHS are important to enhance the students’
high school years,” Adney says. “YHS has been very successful with
the activities provided to students and strives to keep all students
active and successful. We have great students who have many opportunities
to be involved,” she notes.
There are 16 clubs on the YHS campus, in addition to ASB, ranging
from art to snowboarding.
Several of the clubs allow students to pursue special interests
such as art, snowboarding and running. Other clubs are career oriented,
such as Future Business Leaders of America, Future Farmers of America,
and Future Homemakers of America. The French Club and Spanish Club
both provide students with an opportunity to travel abroad. Margo
Read, advisor to the French Club, guides students on a trip to France
every few years. Steve Browning takes students in the Spanish Club
to Mexico each year.
Interact and Key Club are service clubs with members working on
community projects throughout the year. Interact is the student
organization of Rotary and Key Club is the student organization
of Kiwanis. California Scholarship Federation and National Honor
Society are available to students who meet specified academic requirements.
Club Success is developed through the AVID (Advancement Via Individual
Determination) program. This club raises money through fund-raisers
to help students reach their dreams. New Life is a Christian club
for students who have common values and beliefs. They meet to share
their faith. The Library/Computer Tech club is for students who
enjoy reading and computers. A new club this year at YHS is MESA
(Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement). This club helps
students explore educational opportunities in the given fields.
Organizations allow students to pursue interests in the classroom
and outside the class. Students can participate in academic competitions
through the Academic Decathlon or the Mock Trial team. Each of these
teams from YHS has won the county competition for over a decade.
Both of these organizations require numerous hours of study and
preparation by the students. In addition to all of the hours spent
studying, members of the Academic Decathlon team take a trip each
year to better prepare for the competition. Destinations in recent
years have included Boston and New York.
Those who are enrolled in music classes are involved in band and
choir activities outside the school day as well. They hold several
concerts each year and also participate in festivals where they
compete with other schools for ratings.
The Chamber Singers received a gold medal last spring at a festival,
making the group eligible to participate in a national festival
during the 2004-05 school year.
Drama students spend many hours rehearsing for the plays they present
throughout the year. In addition to acting in the plays, the students
also build the sets and secure the costumes. The music and drama
programs will be performing in the newly renovated Performing Arts
Center beginning in early 2005. Work is currently underway to turn
the former music and drama classroom building into a 400-seat center.
Music students moved into a new classroom building at the beginning
of 2004.
Students with an interest in writing and photography can enroll
in either the yearbook class or the journalism class. Yearbook students
will begin as soon as school starts to produce the 200-page book
that students can purchase. Student staff members do all of the
writing, photography, advertising sales, advertising design and
page design for the yearbook. The book is completely produced on
computers available in the production lab at the school.
Journalism students work in the same production lab to produce six
copies a year of the student newspaper. The Blue Print ranges from
four pages to 10 pages each issue depending on the amount of advertising
students sell. The paper is self-supporting with advertising revenue
paying for production costs. In addition to being distributed to
every class at the school, the student paper is also circulated
in the Sierra Star, the local community newspaper. Students write
the stories, take the pictures, sell the advertising, design the
ads and assist with production. The newspaper is completely produced
on computers.
Members of the schools Pep Squad spend numerous hours practicing
routines for athletic events, school assemblies and competitions.
Members are chosen after a try-out process. Routines include dance
and gymnastic skills. Many of the Pep Squad members are enrolled
in private dance classes to perfect their skills.
A new class and organization at YHS this year will be the California
Cadet Corps (CaCC). This military organization is supported by the
National Guard. The California State Legislature receives an evaluation
of the program each year and has a special interest in three areas:
dropout prevention, school safety, and gang avoidance. Another area
of evaluation is academic achievement. Members of the CaCC participate
in community and school events. Key components of the program are
education, leadership, patriotism, military knowledge and citizenship.
The CaCC also meets the physical education requirement for freshmen
and sophomores who are required to have a PE class.
Although it is not an organization, there is a literary magazine
on campus, Octuris, in which students can publish their creative
writing. Alternative education students publish a literary magazine
as well, showcasing their writing and artistic skills.
There are 16 athletic programs available to students. The activities
are broken into three seasons: fall, winter and spring. In the fall,
students can participate in volleyball, football, cross country
(boys’ and girls’ teams), girls’ tennis, girls’ golf, water polo
(girls and boys) and cheerleading. This will be the first year the
school offers water polo and swimming, thanks to the opening of
the new swim complex. Winter sports are boys’ and girls’ basketball,
boys’ and girls’ soccer, wrestling and cheerleading. Spring sports
are baseball, softball, boys’ tennis, boys’ golf, boys’ and girls’
track, boys’ and girls’ swimming and cheerleading.
Several of the athletic teams will have new or improved facilities
for the 2004-05 season. The football field has been completely renovated
with new drainage and a new sod field. The track has been completely
re-done and surfaced with a rubberized, all-weather material. The
track team will be able to host track meets during the 2005 season
for the first time in many years. Fiormonti has recently announced
that YHS will be hosting the league track championships in the spring
of 2005.
The baseball and softball teams used their new facilities during
the 2004 season. Each has a new field that District Superintendent
Bill McCabe calls some of the best in the valley.
New soccer fields will be constructed in the near future.
Athletic teams have won numerous championships in the past. During
the 2003-04 season YHS brought home the follow championships: Football,
Central Sequoia League (CSL) champions and second in the Valley
CIF (California Interscholastic Federation); volleyball, co-CSL;
girls’ cross country, CSL; girls’ basketball, CSL and Valley CIF;
baseball, co-CSL and Valley CIF; boys’ track, CSL.
Fiormonti is proud of the athletic program at the school and he
is very pleased with the new facilities.
“Yosemite High School has a rich tradition of success throughout
the years,” Fiormonti says. “This past season was no different as
we had six CSL championships, two CIF championships and two CIF
runners-up. It was a wonderful year for the Badgers. There are some
really exciting things happening at YHS,” he said.
“We will be adding both boys’ and girls’ water polo in the fall.
In addition we will be adding boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving
in the spring.” He says they will probably only compete at the varsity
level in the aquatic sports this year but “that depends on the number
of athletes participating in those sports.”
Raupp, who was athletic director and coach at YHS prior to becoming
principal, says “We are proud of the accomplishments of our student-athletes
and coaches and have had great success in the athletic arena. But
more importantly, we value athletics for the educational experience
it offers students. Students learn teamwork, leadership, and a strong
work ethic, which are valuable assets they take to the workplace
or college after graduation.”
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