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Tamalpais High School

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Tamalpais High School (nicknamed Tam) is a public secondary school located in Mill Valley, California. It is named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises more than 2500 feet above Mill Valley.

Tamalpais High School
Location
Map
700 Miller Avenue

Mill Valley
,
California
94941
Information
School typePublic Comprehensive high school
Founded1908
School boardRuth Dell (2005-2009), President

Jill Sampson (2003-2007), Clerk
Susan Schmidt (2005-2009)
John Wright (2005-2009)

Bob Walter (2003-2007)
School districtTamalpais Union High School District
SuperintendentBob Ferguson
PrincipalChris Holleran
Staff81[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment1,1147 (School Year 2005-06[1])
 • Grade 9331
 • Grade 10266
 • Grade 11308
 • Grade 12242
LanguageEnglish
Color(s) RED & BLUE
MascotRed Tailed Hawk
Team nameHawks
Websitehttp://www.tamhigh.org

Tamalpais High School was the original campus of the Tamalpais Union High School District and the second public high school in Marin County. As of 2007, Tam's attendance area includes the cities of Mill Valley and Sausalito, the nearby unincorporated areas of Marin City, Strawberry and Tamalpais-Homestead Valley, and the West Marin communities of Muir Beach, Bolinas and Stinson Beach. Mill Valley School District is the largest feeder for Tam, followed by the Sausalito Marin City School District and the Bolinas-Stinson Union School District.

History

Tamalpais High School was founded in 1908 by Mr. E. E. Wood. Initially consisting of only a couple of tents on a shore front campus that allowed students to take their boats to school, the Tamalpais campus has greatly expanded over the years, but has seen its share of wear and tear. Thanks to a recently-passed bond measure, the campus is undergoing renovations that will allow maintenance to be performed on some of its nearly century-old buildings. The oldest building, Wood Hall, reopened in late August 2005.

In 1975, someone put a pipe bomb in the toilet of a boys' restroom at Keyser Hall. The bomb exploded and the toilet was destroyed, but no-one was hurt. The vandal was never caught.

In the 1989 - 1990 school year, members of the student body petitioned to formally remove the school's original mascot "Indians" at the urging of Native American activists led by Sacheen Littlefeather. The original mascot was named after the first local Native American inhabitants, the Miwoks, and represented by a wooden sculpture affectionately named 'Charlie'. Sports teams were identified only as "Tam" for the fall and winter seasons of that school year. A school-wide contest was held and the Red Tailed Hawks was chosen as the winner, beating out other entries such as Mountaineers and Locomotives. The Red Tailed Hawk logo and mascot was adopted beginning in the 1990 - 1991 school year. Tam High was one of the first American institutions to remove the 'politically-incorrect' Native American moniker.[2]

Tam in the news

The school was the subject of local controversy during the 2004-2005 school year when several anti-gay hate crimes were reported by a 17-year-old female wrestler, receiving heavy coverage in the Associated Press and the local newspapers[3]. The police determined that the "victim" of the crimes had staged the incidents; when they confronted her with their evidence, the student confessed. Subsequent coverage of the false reports received even greater attention in the media and blogsphere.[4][5]

Tam has seen its share of suicides. On 2006-01-04, former ASB president Nima Shaterian took his own life.[6] A city-wide memorial was held in Mill Valley.[7] A year later in January of 2007, junior Clive Barry also took his life. [8] Such tragic events are analyzed by clinical psychologist Madeline Levine, who studied families in Marin County and hypothesized in her book, The Price of Privilege, that teens from affluent families are often plagued with more psychological distress.

Campus

The 2005-2006 academic year was delayed by five days when unhealthy levels of mold were discovered in the walls of Keyser Hall. The building was closed, and portable classrooms were used instead of Keyser's 17 classrooms. The mold grew due to runoff from the hillside the building was situated on. Keyser Hall was demolished during the summer of 2006; the site will remain empty for about a year before construction of a replacement building begins.

School administrators are consulting with architects about the construction of a handicapped elevator in front of the school's most recognizable building, Wood Hall. Architects unveiled a plan for a four-story elevator tower in front of the school's signature archway, complete with a bridge to take handicapped students into the building. Staff were shocked at the drastic proposal, which would be costly and would have an extensive impact on the many of the campus' most well-known architectural features. An elevator of some sort may be necessary to comply with handicapped accessibility laws. Administrators have formed a committee to look into alternative ways to provide that accessibility.

Extracurricular activities

File:Tamalpaisindians.jpg
Until 1990, the school's teams were called the Tamalpais Indians

Sports

Tam has competed in the Marin County Athletic League since the MCAL was established in 1959.[9] In prior years, Tam was a member of the old North Bay League. The MCAL is a member of the Marin-Sonoma-Mendocino Conference of the North Coast Section (NCS) of the California Interscholastic Federation. Four Tam coaches have been recognized as Honor Coaches at the North Coast Section: Bruce Grant (girls track, 1982); Janis Wood (girls track, 1985); Beth Juri (boys volleyball, 1997); and Don Smith (softball, 2003).[10]

The Marin County Athletic League offers competition in 21 sports as of 2007, including baseball, cross country, football, softball, swimming and diving, track and field, and wrestling. Separate teams for boys and girls compete in basketball,golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, vollyball, and waterpolo. The only NCS sport that MCAL does not participate in is badminton.

State and Section championships

  • Boys Track - North Coast Section Champions, 2006
  • Anne Campbell - State Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, 2004; North Coast Section Champion, 2004 and 2005
  • Boys Basketball - State Champions in 2000
  • Boys Soccer - North Coast Section (NCS) Champions, 2000
  • Boys Water Polo - North Coast Section Champions, 1994
  • Girls Cross County - North Coast Section Champions, 1975[11]

Two Tam teams have won NCS Scholastic Championships for the highest team Grade Point Average--the Girls Cross Country Team in 1991, with a GPA of 3.58, and the Boys Swimming and Diving Team in 1998, with a 3.49 GPA.

Mock trial

The school's mock trial team won the National High School Mock Trial Championship, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2005.[12][13] Tam won the State championship in 2005 and took second place in 1998.[14]. As of 2007, the mock trial team has won the Marin County championship twelve years in a row.[15]

Performing arts

Tam High is the original home of the Ensemble Theater Company (ETC), formed by former student (Tam/Drake Class of 1952) and teacher Dan Caldwell, notable alumni of which include Tupac Shakur and Courtney Thorne-Smith. ETC expanded its presence to include Redwood High School and Drake High School in the mid 1980’s. The Daniel Caldwell Performing Arts Center a new facility features a new 10,000 square foot multi-use theatre building as well as significant upgrades and renovations to Ruby Scott Auditorium. The Center was completed in 2006. (ETC was renamed the Conservatory Theatre Ensemble (CTE).

Student publications

The school's newspaper, the Tamalpais News (called THAT Magazine from 2003-2005), has won awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the National Scholastic Press Association. In 2006, for the first time since the award was established in 1984, CSPA awarded the News one of 37 Silver Crown Awards.[16] Tam News staff won eight individual Gold Circle Awards from the CSPA in 2001, with 11 total since 1984. Two News staff won individual awards for Story of the Year from the National Scholastic Press Association in 1998.[17] The paper introduced a new website in 2006,Tamnews.org. Beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, their staff adviser of 11 years, Austin Bah, returned to teaching English. He was succeeded by Jonah Steinhart, former partner in two Silicon Valley startups and editor of the Campanile, when he was at Palo Alto High School.[18][19]

Awards

Tamalpais was a recipient of the California Distinguished School Award in 1999 and 2005.

Notable Alumni

Notable Faculty

Notes

* Alumni listed in the 2002 Alumni Directory, address unconfirmed
† Alumni listed as "reported deceased" in the 2002 Alumni Directory
‡ Alumni listed in the Biographical Section of the 2002 Alumni Directory

  1. ^ a b School Accountability Report Card (SARC), accessed 2007-01-06
  2. ^ Although the hawk selected as mascot is most commonly referred to as the Red-tailed Hawk or red-tailed hawk, with a hyphen, the mascot is styled as Red Tailed Hawk, using three capitalized words with no hyphen, by both the student newspaper and the alumni association.
  3. ^ Marin Independent Journal, "Mill Valley Students Rally Against Hate After Gay-Bashing Incidents at School," December 11, 2004, accessed 2007-01-31 at whatkidscando.org
  4. ^ Michelle Malkin, "Another Hate Crime Hoax," May 9, 2005, accessed 2007-01-31
  5. ^ San Francisco Chronicle, "Alleged gay-bashing at Marin high school a hoax, police said," May 8, 2005 AP Breaking News, based on information fromthe Marin Independent Journal, accessed 2007-01-31
  6. ^ San Francisco Chronicle, "The darkness behind his perfect smile" 2006-01-15
  7. ^ Letter dated 2006-01-05, from Principal Chris Holleran to the Tam Community regarding "Death of Nima Shaterian, Class of 2005", accessed 2007-01-01
  8. ^ San Francisco Chronicle, "Parents reflect, schools mobilize to curb suicide" 2007-01-22
  9. ^ Bruce Macgowan, Marin Independent Journal, "Back in the early 1960s, Ed Chavez's Tam High boys teams reigned supreme," 2007-01-06, accessed 2007-02-27
  10. ^ North Coast Section, accessed 2007-02-27
  11. ^ NCS FALL TEAM CHAMPIONS – CROSS COUNTRY, accessed 2007-02-28
  12. ^ Constitutional Rights Foundation, CRF e-News, Vol 4 No 2, June 2005, accessed 10/27/06
  13. ^ National High School Mock Trial Championship accessed 2006-10-27
  14. ^ Constitutional Rights Foundation, California Mock Trial History, accessed 2007-02-15
  15. ^ Richard Halstead, Marin Independent Journal, "Tam High mock trial team wins 12th consecutive Marin title," 2007-02-03, accessed 2007-02-10
  16. ^ Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Contests and Critiques
  17. ^ National Scholastic Press Association, NSPA Winners, 1998
  18. ^ Tam News, 2006-09-27
  19. ^ Michael, Selz, The Wall Street Journal, accessed 2006-11-20
  20. ^ California State Library Foundation Bulletin, No. 83, 2006, pp. 13–20, "Honoring a Lifetime of Achievement: The Notable Career of Librarian and Historian Richard H. Dillon", accessed [2007-01-21]]
  21. ^ Dwight Chapin, San Francisco Chronicle, April 20, 2004, Former Tam major-leaguers to be honored in reunion
  22. ^ Baseball-Reference, "Art Schallock" accessed 2006-12-07
  23. ^ San Francisco Chronicle obituary, "Glen Robinson - U.S Marshall," January 31, 2005
  24. ^ New York Times, "Matt Hazeltine, 53, Is Dead; Former Linebacker for 49ers,"1987-01-17 accessed 2006-12-07
  25. ^ Rob Nilsson Filmography at IMDB
  26. ^ Rob Nilsson official site accessed 2006-12-07
  27. ^ Festival de Cannes, Awards accessed 2006-12-07
  28. ^ Sundance Festival Award Winners accessed 2006-12-08
  29. ^ Bruce Macgowan, Marin Independent Journal, "Career in the NFL just a part of still-active career for Collett," 09/03/2006-09-03, accessed 2007-01-11
  30. ^ Toby Byron, IMDb (Internet Movie Database) reference
  31. ^ New York Times Filmography Guide
  32. ^ Neumu online music magazine
  33. ^ a b "How I discovered the Blues", Michael Goldberg, insiderone.net December 2000
  34. ^ a b "Grooving To The Stanley Jackson Trio", Michael Goldberg, neumu.net August 2003
  35. ^ Tom Killion Woodcut Prints, accessed 2007-02-16
  36. ^ Marin Independent Journal, "Artist Tom Killion has come home," December 30, 2002
  37. ^ Peter Kaufman, IMDb (Internet Movie Database) reference
  38. ^ Alex Horvath, San Francisco Chronicle, "Artist's watercolor career blossoming: O'Connor's work favored by pop star," 2002-08-30, page NB-3, accessed 2007-02-24
  39. ^ Alex Horvath, Bay Area Writer, accessed 2007-03-01
  40. ^ [http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/team/coach_staff_bio.jsp?c_id=ari&coachorstaffid=427406 Arizon Diamondbacks}, accessed 2007-02-27
  41. ^ Dave Albee, Marin Independent Journal, "The motormouth of Mill Valley: Brian Murphy new co-host at KNBR," 2004-11-26, accessed 2007-02-27
  42. ^ [http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3843&SPID=255&DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=226196 Colorado Buffalos, Romeo Bandison Biography}, accessed 2007-02-27
  43. ^ Los Angeles Times, December 29, 2006, "Sam Chapman, 90; halfback on last Cal team to win Rose Bowl" accessed 2006-01-01
  44. ^ http://www.ctetam.org/pages/guest_DCaldwell.html
  45. ^ http://www.calmusiced.com/awards.htm
  46. ^ http://www.mustcreate.org/kid_home/kids1_4_1perkoff.shtml
  47. ^ http://www.well.com/user/dreyer/TH_text/DimitroffSpam.htm
  48. ^ http://www.tamhigh.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=47
  49. ^ Greatful Dead discography
  50. ^ IMDb, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), accessed 2007-01-12
  51. ^ FORE! Album Information, Notes: "Thank You to Tamalpais High School For Supplying Us With The Wall For Our Cover", accessed at Bay-Area-Bands.com 2007-02-13

References

  • Tamalpais High School Alumni Directory 2002, Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company, Purchase, New York, 2002.

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