GAITHER HIGH SCHOOL

'Vivian Gaither High School' (commonly abbreviated to simply Gaither or GHS) is located in the Greater Northdale area of Hillsborough County, Florida, USA. It is a senior public high school, serving grades 9-12, operated by the Hillsborough County Public School System. It serves the communities of Northdale, Cheval, Country Place, North Lakes, Lutz, and other parts of northern Hillsborough County. Students from James Buchanan Middle School and Ben Hill Middle School (Gaither's "feeder schools") usually attend Gaither for grades 9-12.
Gaither is named for former Hillsborough High School administrator, Principal Vivian Gaither. He served over 40 years in the Hillsborough County School System.

Contents

History

Demographics

2005-2006 policy controversy

Blüe Crüe

Location

Sister school

Athletic achievements

Baseball

Football

Ice hockey

Soccer

Swimming

Track

Volleyball

Famous alumni

Distinguished alumni

Class of 2007

Class of 2006

Class of 2005

Class of 2004

Class of 2003

Class of 2002

Class of 2001

Class of 2000

Class of 1999

Administration

External links

History

Gaither opened its doors in 1984. It first only housed 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. The following year and until 1997, it only accommodated 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. Today, Gaither is used for all of 9th-12th grades.
Gaither's closest rival is Sickles High School, which opened in 1997. Other rivals include Chamberlain High School, Freedom High School, and Plant High School.
In 2003, Gaither High School adopted the vision, "Gaither will be among the top 5% of high schools in the state," and mission, "Gaither will provide all students with the opportunity and skills needed to maximize their potential as life–long learners and productive citizens."
During the Fall of 2003, a clustered case of respiratory Stridor hit Gaither's Starettes, the dance and cheerleading squad. Anywhere from 10 to 14 members of the Starettes as well as a few members of the Marching Cowboys contracted the illness during the months of October and November, following July band camp at the school which all were present at. During that same time the school gym floor was refinished and the auditorium painted; it is likely that the Starettes' practice area, where they spent considerable time between the two locations, predisposed them (as opposed to the entirety of the marching band, which usually practiced in the band room) to a mixture of and higher-than-normal volumes of fumes (which many complained of). The most newsworthy facet of this incident was the spotless air-quality test result mandated by County health officials and performed by both the SDHC's Safety Department and independent private environmental consultants Chastain-Skillman; the exact causes of the episode are still a mystery. As such it was featured on an episode of NBC's Today. As of December, 2003 the afflicted students' health had improved or was improving.
In April of 2004, a wall above the auditorium collapsed due to heavy wind and rains, and crews pulled the rest down to prevent any further collapsing. The wall was rebuilt but water purportedly continues to come in through the ceiling.
In 2005, the Gaither Marching Band participated in the Inaugural Parade for George W. Bush.
In 2006, the Gaither Vocal Chorus traveled to New York City and performed at St Patrick's Cathedral.
During the Fall and Spring semesters comprising the 2005-2006 school year, Spirit Week (the once-a-year week wherein students can dress to various school-related "themes") was cut down to three days instead of the usual five. To make up for what the students felt was a school-spirit deprivation (as there was no conceivable or announced reason for the decrease in the number of Spirit days), the student population created their own "themes" for the first two days of the week: Pirate day and Ninja day. On both days, students who dressed up were required by administration to change clothes.
In January 2007, GHS was named the demonstration high school for best practices for inclusive education (BPIE) by the state of Florida for Hillsborough County. During the spring of 2007, Gaither High School participated in a team process which developed an action plan to further improve best practices.

Demographics

As of September 1 2006, Gaither High School demographics are as follows^[1]:

★ 57.74% - White/Caucasian, Non Hispanic (1,357 students)

★ 28.34% - Hispanic, of any race (666 students)

★ 7.32% - Black/African-American, Non Hispanic (172 students)

★ 3.15% - Multiracial/ethnic (74 students)

★ 2.85% - Asian/Pacific Islander (67 students)

★ 0.60% - American Indian/Alaskan Native (14 students)
However, these numbers may not be exact, because students whose ethnic information is unknown or not listed on school records are automatically sorted into the "White/Caucasian, Non Hispanic" category. The School District of Hillsborough County does not follow the United States Office of Management and Budget policy on racial classification; they put all Hispanic students into one category, regardless of race. This is most likely done to calculate how many students have limited English-speaking ability. However, as can be seen from the following data, the percentage of Hispanic students is not related in any way to the percentage of students who have limited proficiency in the English language.

★ 25.57% of students are economically disadvantaged (601 students)

★ 4.3% of students have limited proficiency in the English language (101 students)

★ 11.87% of students have disabilites (279 students)

2005-2006 policy controversy

During the 2005-2006 school year, Gaither's administration enacted new policies which have had positive effects despite negative reactions from some students. A new tardy policy went into effect; in contrast to earlier policy, tardies would be logged across all classes as opposed to per class, with increased penalties for infractions. A great number of students were concerned by this change, as the heavily populated school had densely packed hallways which made it difficult to arrive on time. However, the harsher consequences motivated students who would previously obstruct the hallways to move to their classrooms sooner, allowing students who would otherwise be late to arrive on time. Many students have agreed that the new policies have been a resounding success, since the data demonstrated a dramatic drop in tardies after the institution of the new policy. As must be expected, though, other sub-populations of the student body continue to voice contempt for the new policies.
In the same year, a policy requiring students to wear their Gaither ID cards was enacted. The policy has been surprisingly ineffective, due to the fact that many teachers do not enforce it, allowing students to walk around the school for the entire day without an ID, making it impossible to tell who is and isn't a Gaither student. It should also be noted that the IDs could be easily counterfeited on any home computer, due to their lack of holograms or any other security features.
The mandatory ID policy continued into the 2006-2007 school year, but was abolished the following year, due to large amounts of non-compliance from both students and teachers.

Blüe Crüe

During the 2005-2006 school year, many students participated in body painting in an effort to raise school spirit. They made appearances primarily at football games, but were known to make surprise entrances at pep rallies as well. Founded by a small group of students and led by senior Jonny Arcila, the "Blüe Crüe", as they dubbed themselves, have been involved and implicated in many skits and school pranks, consisting of everything from a large scale pillow fight to hosting free barbecues in the north (senior) parking lot. Their Friday-night antics, though, are what cemented the Crüe's existence at Gaither. Limited not to just cheering, the Blüe Crüe often created chants to antagonize the other team or call out opposing players in a humorous but playful manner.
Staying true to the efforts of their predecessors, the Blüe Crüe carried into the 2006-2007 school year, this time with an almost entirely different corps of members. Led by senior Keith Odle, the Crüe continued to put on a show at all football games and school pep rallies. Rather than relying on chanting like the prior year, however, the 2006-2007 Blüe Crüe introduced more props and novelty items to the games including a shopping cart converted into a look-alike of a horse, a battle axe, and a dress-wearing inflatable alligator. Although the Crüe was visibly smaller due to the graduation of many of its founding members, it gained popularity with many students who normally would not have felt comfortable enough to paint up and join the foray.
At the end of the 2006 football season, it was announced that junior Maris Janavs and Alex (blue Jew) Mallardi would be taking over as the Blüe Crüe captain in 2007]]-