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Established in 1996, Granite Bay High School is located in Magazine's Best American High Schools list. In 2005, GBHS fell to #772 on the same list. In 2006, GBHS jumped to #673 on the list. GBHS was ranked #761 in 2007. The school's enrollment has increased significantly since its opening; GBHS currently serves about 2,100 students. NOTABLE ALUMNI
INTELLIGENT DESIGN DEBATE GBHS garnered significant media attention before and when the Roseville Joint Union High School District (to which GBHS belongs) was sued by the non-profit foundation doctrine into public school science classrooms. NEWSPAPER The Granite Bay Gazette is considered one of the finest newspapers around. Headed by Karl Grubaugh, the Gazette in 2006 has won many national newspaper awards. In the fall NSPA national journalism convention in Chicago, it won 3rd place Best of Show Special Edition, and in the spring NSPA convention in San Francisco, it won 2nd place Best of Show Special Edition and 10th place Best of Show for newspapers over 17 pages in length. In Fall 2006, it won 3rd place in Best of Show overall (over 17 pages) in Nashville. It is part of the High School National Ad Network. Currently, Amy Holiday and Juliana Fehrenbacher are the Co-editors in Chief of the publication. Recently, the Gazette was deemed the best high school newspaper in California. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Band and color guard GBHS's Emerald Brigade Marching Band is well-known in the area for its excellence. From its inception up until 2005, the Emerald Brigade was directed by Paul D. Everts. Since 2005, the Emerald Brigade has been directed by Lynn Kulikowski. The band has approximately 135 members and performs at home football games and at competitive field show competitions. Instructors include: Paul Marr, Chris Marr, Vince Velasquez, Angel, and Vince Hjerpe. The band is led by President Matt Ford, Drum Major Carson Schmidley, Vice President Lauren Stone, Treasurer Anthony Armentano, Secretary Alex Kasner, and Treasurers Frank Hammarin and Jeff Fleischman. Choir Granite Bay has six choirs directed under the award-winning Mrs. Jennifer Leighton. This year three of the schools choirs competed in a New York Music Festival. Chamber choir received third place, Treble Chamber placed first, and Madrigal placed first in addition to winning the honor of best choir overall. They also performed at the Golden Empire Music Festival, all receiving ratings of "Superior." There are approximately 100 dedicated members. Competitive Forensics One of Granite Bay's programs is the competitive forensics team, which offers students the opportunity to compete in a variety of speaking events, ranging from dramatic interpretation to policy debate. Under the dedicated guidance of teacher and advisor Mrs. Rita Prichard--herself a member of the California High School Speech Association Hall of Fame--the Granite Bay Forensics team is a member of the Sacramento Valley Forensics League. Last year, GBHS sent 17 competitors to the State tournament, as well as seven to the National Competition. The team is currently guided by captain Alex Kasner. Technology Programs Granite Bay High is home to many specialized computer technology courses which provide useful skills to students for future endeavors in the workplace. A program unique to Granite Bay High School is Granite Bay Information Technology, or GBiT, led by Mike Fischer. This program, scheduled as a class during the school year, provides students with the opportunity to engage in real-world technology support, web development, and management. This student-led and student-run group maintains all technology on campus and performs updates and upgrades to this technology, builds the school's award-winning web site and websites for outside customers, and provides faculty with technical training. Conceived and sponsored by Intel, this asset has benefited the school and the local community since 1999. ACADEMIC DECATHLON Granite Bay High School also has an Academic Decathlon team. Currently it is coached by English teacher Anthony Davis; previous coaches included Sharry Colnar and Marty Newborn. The team has had a long and successful past, winning the Placer County championship 8 of the last 9 years and often making it to California state competition. The only exception was in 2005, when loss of members due to various reasons crippled the team, which still nearly won the county. Arguably its most notable member ever was Erika Vause, who achieved the highest score in the state of California in 2000. In 1999, the team won third place in Division II in the state of California. The 2005-2006 captain of the team was senior Kevin Shiiba, and in 2006-2007 is led by second-year members David Pinter and Alex Schmidley. The team placed eighth in Division II at the California state finals in 2006, and fourth in Division II in 2007 (24th in the state of California). Varsity Decathlete Timothy Schmidt has won the "Key to the Team" award two years in a row. The 2007-2008 Academic Decathlon team includes the following members: "Killer" Kurt Chirbas, Lisa Wang, Dennis "Slammin' Asian" Zheng, Carly Burns, Gadget Caferty, Anna Padgett, Claire Voigtlander, and Bethany Wilson. FBLA Only one of the clubs that Granite Bay High School has to offer, Granite Bay FBLA is a student-led business organization that features around 50 members. The club offers events around campus and in the area, and also sends members to Northern Section and State Leadership Conferences. Past presidents include David Collins, Drew Crossan, and Kevin Okimura. Currently Granite Bay FBLA is led by Co-Presidents Zach Levine and Nasir Sharif. The two new leaders are also helped by a duo of Vice-Presidents with Brad Reynolds and Eric Chee. The advisors are Jeanne Sampson and Bill Patterson. In addition to its consistent success in FBLA competition, in 2006 the club achieved Gold Seal Status in the state of California, and one of its members went on to the National Leadership Conference. THEATRE DEPARTMENT Each year, a fall production, a student-directed production, and a spring musical are performed by GBHS students. The 2006 fall play was "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and the student-directed production was "While the Lights Were Out." The Musical Theatre class has just finished with the spring musical, Disney's High School Musical , starring Tim Stusiak and Monica Hill. It opened May 1, 2007. EXTERNAL LINKS
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