Bear Creek High School (Stockton, California)

Bear Creek High School is a high school located in north Stockton, California. It is part of Lodi Unified School District (LUSD). Current enrollment is roughly 2,300 students. Before Ronald E. McNair High School opened in 2006, Bear Creek was the newest high school in LUSD. It first opened for the 1991-92 school year as the first high school from LUSD to be built in Stockton, about 10 miles from the closest LUSD high school (Tokay High School)

Because of the very diverse backgrounds of the students, there are a number of clubs that represent the various cultures. These cultures are displayed annually during the school's International Rally, which eases some of the racial tension on campus. Some notable clubs include: Poly, Four Elements, Punjabi Junction, Kababayan, BC Latino, BETA, Vietnamese, JCKC, Swing, BSU, Glee, Dance and Drill.

Historical problems and recent change

The school's diversity has led to many racial conflicts involving students. During the 2004–05 school year, a string of attacks on white students by black students led to a crackdown on campus violence. Dubbed "White Wednesday", attacks would happen outside the gymnasium and restrooms, where security cameras where not focused. In all, a dozen attacks occurred with varying degrees of severity. Also in 2004, there was a riot involving close to 500 students where faculty and School Resource Officers got involved. Thirty people were suspended and two students were arrested following the lunch-time brawl. In 2008, there was a riot at the 08-09 homecoming game; Bear Creek was playing Franklin High School of Stockton, CA.

Academic teams

Bear Creek traditionally has strong academic teams competing in Academic Decathlon, Science Olympiad, and SkillsUSA. The Academic Decathlon team reached the state tournament three out of the last five years from San Joaquin County. The Science Olympiad has reached the state tournament for the last three years, after being founded four years ago. The SkillsUSA Team has been to the state conference the past nine years and to the national conference three times out of the past four years, taking home two National Conference medals.

Bear Creek Spirit

Bear is known to have one of the most spirited rallies in the Stockton/Lodi area. Spirit weeks usually take place once a quarter. On the Thursdays of the spirit week there is usually a rally. Students dressed up in their class colors, which consist of purple, green, orange, and pink, head to the gym in during their 2nd period and show the BC spirit they all have. During the first rally of the school year, the back to school rally, students are able to play games against their fellow school mates. The second rally, the homecoming rally, usually consists of the homecoming court showing off their dance moves, and introducing the sports that take place during the fall season. During the third quarter there is the Winterfest rally, which formally introduces the winterfest court to their fellow classmate. Also, each class has their chance to show off their dances moves with their class dance. The fourth, and most popular rally is the International rally, where clubs get the chance to show of their cultural dances. During the fifth, and final rally each class moves over one space to their new class section, as the seniors leave the gym, and the freshman area is left empty. Each rally is started, and ended by the BC role call. The freshmen yell the letter "B", the sophomores yell "C", the juniors yell "H", and the seniors scream "SENIORS"

The student section at Bear Creek, the Creek Crazies, are usually seen at any football, or basketball game dressed up in blue cheering along with their fellow cheerleaders. Students are able to join the Creek Crazies through Club Rush, which takes place during the 1st quarter of the school year.

Athletics

Bear Creek High School was well known for their National Champion Cheerleading squads from 1997 - 2001. They were coached by John Hebert, Lisa Deeter (Science teacher) and Gigi Mandujan. Once the coaches left the cheerleading program struggled.

In the early years of Bear Creek, the men's track and field teams were strong. They were coached by Greg Wright (History teacher) who now Coaches at Lodi High School in Lodi California. In 1994 and 1995, the Bruins battled Sonora High School for the top spot in the Valley Oak League, winning the school's first league championship in 1995. Bear Creek won the San Joaquin Athletic Association track and field league championship over Stagg High School in 1997. They had a 7'1" high jumper Darryl Feilbach and a 16'7" pole vaulter David Gritz. Feilbach tied the 1st place jump at the California State meet and Gritz took 1st alone, just missing on the CIF state meet record of 17'1". There were also some stand outs in the 98 and 99 season, but not to the extent of Feilbach and Gritz. Feilbach and Gritz both went on to compete in the national championships in 1997.

In 2007, the girls varsity track team ranked 2nd in the state for their 400 x 400; in the 2007-2008 be the boys Cross-Country team took second place in league.

The swimming and water polo teams practiced each day at McNair High School, however in May 2007, groundbreaking began for several new additions to the school, including a new pool. Additionally a second gym and a theater arts center, which were opened for partial use in fall 2008.

Men's Varsity Tennis also achieved being #1 in their league in both 05-06 and 06-07 seasons.

Other sports offered at Bear Creek include water polo, football, badminton, cross country, track and field, basketball, tennis, golf, girls volleyball, soccer, wrestling, and girls softball.

Publications

The school's newspaper, The Bruin Voice, has consistently earned national recognition at newspaper conventions over the past decade, including a National Pacemaker Award. The current advisor of The Bruin Voice is Kathi Duffel.

The school's yearbook, The Cornerstone, has also consistently earned state and national recognition over the past decade. The current adviser is Joyce Dedini.

Controversy

Former principal Daryl Camp caused controversy by requesting review and restriction of the school newspaper, "The Bruin Voice," before it was published monthly, a violation of California Education Code 48907. Camp stated that he wanted to make sure the school is free of libel, however, the newspaper has had a history of positively contributing to the school under the guidance of adviser Kathi Duffel, and many of the articles called into question by Camp earned recognition from The Record (Stockton). Camp was replaced by Shirley McNichols, previous principal of Jesse Bethel High School in Vallejo, CA, in 2011. McNichols attempted prior restraint of the paper, in violation of California law, in February, 2013, was thwarted by the school district.^[1]

References

External links

• School statistics
• School website
• District website
• The Bruin Voice website