| James A. Garfield High School (seattle) |
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Information AboutJames A. Garfield High School (seattle) |
James A. Garfield High School is a public high school in the Seattle Public Schools district of Seattle , Washington , USA. Arguably the city's most famous school, it is known for its outstanding academic and arts programs, and for its high degree of cultural diversity. Located along 23rd Avenue between E. Alder and E. Jefferson Streets in Seattle's urban Central District , Garfield draws students from all over the city. Garfield is also known as the magnet school for the school district's Accelerated Progress Program for especially gifted students. As a result it has many college level classes for students to take ranging from Calculus -based Physics to Advanced Placement studio art. It competes each year with the Lakeside School , a private school, for the highest number of graduating National Merit scholars in the city. HISTORY James A. Garfield High School was founded in 1920 as East High School at its current location. Its original class consisted of only 282 students, transferred from Broadway High School. In just three years, however, the school's enrollment grew enough that the 12-room building was replaced with a brand-new, Jacobean -style building designed by Floyd Naramore. In 1929, the city commissioned the architect to design an addition for the school as enrollment peaked at 2,300 students. {Link without Title} The buildings have lasted for over eight decades, but are scheduled to be partially demolished in a sweeping redesign of the school which will begin in 2006. While some appreciate the old feel of the building, this will come as a relief to many of the students, who daily make their ways through narrow and overcrowded hallways. ATHLETICS Basketball Garfield basketball teams have won many regional and state titles, including a stretch of twelve years under coach Al Hairston from 1980 to 1991 during which time the Bulldogs won five Class AAA titles, eight Seattle Metro League championships, qualified for the state tournament nine times, and won the state tournament five times. The boys' basketball team has been state champions a total of eleven times and runner-up five times since 1949. Both the girls' and boys' teams were state champions in 1980 and 1987. More recently, the girls' team was runner-up in 2004 and state champions in 2005 under former Garfield star Joyce Walker , who played on the 1980 championship team. [http://www.wiaa.com/Athletics/basketball/pastchamp/4agirlschamps.html {Link without Title} {Link without Title} PROGRAMS, CLUBS, AND ACTIVITIES Post 84 Post 84, also known simply as Post, is the largest student program in Washington state, with over 350 members. It is a mostly autonomous youth branch of The Mountaineers , and is unique to Garfield. It provides Extracurricular Environmental and Outdoor Education as well as Outdoor Leadership training, which are all largely absent from the school district's curriculum. Membership is open to all high school students in the Seattle area, although convenience and absence of advertising outside of Garfield means that only a handful of members come from other schools. The program maintains a scholarship fund for students who can't afford membership and trip costs. Post also has a bunch of gear that members may borrow so students do not need to spend a lot money to participate. {Link without Title} The program's many outings include such activities as Scuba Diving , mountain and road Biking , Rock Climbing , snow and beach Camping , Hiking , Kayaking , wilderness survival training, and a trip called Desert School. Desert School is a week-long trip to the Sagebrush Steppe of Eastern Washington to teach Freshmen about the Geological and Ecological history of Washington as well as give them an opportunity to bond with other members of the freshman class. {Link without Title} All of the trips are led by Post 84 staff, all of whom are students. The student staff have all undergone a 30 hour Wilderness First Aid course taught by the Mountaineers called Mountaineering Oriented First Aid (MOFA) in addition to leadership training, which is bolstered by the experience gained from leading trips. They have also completed the introductory Post trips called Wilderness Survival and Advanced Wilderness Survival. The administrative side of the program is also run entirely by students in an non-profit with an executive committee comprised of Garfield students. Buying and maintaining gear, keeping financial and membership records, and securing reservations for the many trips Post takes also involves a great deal of work outside of school hours as the class time provides only five hours a week. Due to the extraordinary amount of time and effort students put in to the program, Post 84 received the King County Earth Hero award in 2002 for "exceptional work to help the environment and to promote stewardship of our natural resources". {Link without Title} {Link without Title} Drama Club The Garfield Drama Club is the second largest student organization at Garfield. All of the shows are performed, managed, produced, choreographed, designed and created by Garfield students. Each year, the Garfield Drama Club produces four "Dramatic Paws," a night of one-act shows, and Senior Directed One Acts, a night of one-acts produced by the Senior class, and is also known for having outstanding spring musicals, which feature musicians from the award winning Garfield Orchestra and Jazz Band. Garfield has won many awards at the 5th Avenue Awards, run by the 5th Avenue Theatre Association in Seattle. In 2003, Garfield's production of West Side Story brought home awards for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Leading Role Ensemble Member, Outstanding Achievement in Musical Direction and Outstanding Achievement by an Orchestra. It was nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Group and Outstanding Achievement in Direction as well. In 2004, '' Anything Goes '' was nominated for Outstanding Group Ensemble, Outstanding Orchestra, and Outstanding Female Lead and brought home Special Honors in Educational Impact. In 2005, Garfield's performance of '' Cabaret '' received nominations for Outstanding Male in a Leading Role and Outstanding Male in a Supporting Role. It also won the Outstanding Program and Poster Design award and Special Honors in Educational Impact and Student Achievement. {Link without Title} ''The Garfield Messenger'' The Messenger is Garfield's biweekly student-run newspaper. The typical issue is over 20 pages and many go over 30. It is published in color and features some of the best high school journalism in the country. The Messenger has been heavily awarded by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association: placing in Best of Show in the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Conventions in 1997 1998[http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/s98bs.html , 2000 2001[http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/s01bs.html , 2002 2003[http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/s03bs.html , and 2004 honorable mention in the annual design competitions in 2000[http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/design00.html ; placing in the annual best photo competitions in 1998 and 2001[http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/photo01.html ; placing in the annual best story competitions in 1998 and 2003[http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/story03.html ; and winning their most prestigious honor, the Pacemaker Award, in 1997 and was a finalist in 2000[http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/npm00.html and 2004 The paper won an honorable mention from the Society Of Professional Journalists in their 2001 Excellence in Journalism Competition.[http://www.spjwash.org/contests/downloads/awardsspj2001.pdf It received an IRC and the Environmental Foundation Award Grant in 2005 for its Sustainability Edition. A column from the paper was reprinted by ''All About Jazz'' in 2004.[http://www.allaboutjazz.com/seattle/aaj_seattle_200401.pdf ''The Pen'' ''The Pen'' is Garfield's official literary and artistic magazine. Publications come out once every year. ''The Pen'' is student produced, and showcases the artistic and literary talent of Garfield students. It has been in existence at Garfield for many decades. MUSIC The music program at Garfield High School is world-renowned, and has won numerous awards and the respect of many. It has Seen Several Noted Artists , including Jimi Hendrix , Quincy Jones , and Ernestine Anderson . Although Jimi Hendrix rarely attended school. Orchestra The orchestra, under the direction of , the Manhattan School Of Music , The Cleveland Institute Of Music , Rice University , New England Conservatory Of Music , San Francisco Conservatory Of Music , Cincinnati Conservatory Of Music , Eastman School Of Music , and Oberlin College . Former Garfield Orchestra musicians hold principal positions in some of the country's leading orchestras, including The Cleveland Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony . Jazz Garfield's . Its consistent placement in national competitions and long history of national recognition make it one of the best high school jazz bands in the country. [http://garfieldjazz.org/History.html GARFIELD SLANG, PHRASES, AND JARGON
NOTABLE ALUMNI Musicians and singers
Athletes
Others
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