Santa Paula High School Prom: 2011

“There's a big world out there. Bigger than prom, bigger than high school, and it won't matter if you were the prom queen or the quarterback of the football team or the biggest nerd. Find out who you are and try not to be afraid of it.”
-Unknown

This past Saturday night I was fortunate to once again experience the pageantry that is the Santa Paula High School Prom. Having seen our students grow and mature over the past four years it was pleasing to see them all dressed up and on their best behavior. The Padre Center in Camarillo was beautifully decorated, so much so, that they agreed to purchase several of our decorations from us. The Moroccan theme was highlighted by several belly dancing performances and a delectable dining experience.

As for the history behind Prom, the word is short for promenade, the formal parading of guests at a party. The prom can be traced back to the simple co-ed banquets that 19th century American universities held for each year's graduating class. One of the goals of these affairs was to help develop social skills and etiquette in the students.

A growing teenage culture pushed proms younger and younger, and by the 1940s the adolescent dance we know today had almost entirely taken hold. In the 1950s, a thriving postwar economy allowed high schools to replace the traditional gymnasium in favor of proms held in hotels or at country clubs.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, the high school prom began to take on an almost iconic status as a rite of passage from high school into adulthood -- a life event for high school students. As the first formal event in their lives, the prom became the ultimate coming-of-age party for high school juniors and seniors.

According to research done by the University of North Dakota at Fargo’s Department of Home Economics, the typical prom couple spends an average of more than $500 on prom. Costs include buying or renting formal clothing, grooming, flowers, prom tickets, photographs and limousine rentals.

President Kennedy rescheduled a 1963 $1,000-a-plate fundraiser at the Beverly Hilton to accommodate a local school whose prom had been booked for the same time. In 1975, President Ford's daughter Susan held her high school's senior prom at possibly the best prom location ever: the White House

Santa Paula High School would like to thank all the ASB students that worked to make Saturday night such a success. Nicola Lamb and Michele Holmes deserve a tremendous amount of thanks for their tireless work organizing this event. A final thanks to all our students who participated and achieved the goal of displaying perfect social skills and etiquette.

Paul Marietti
Principal, Santa Paula High School

1936 El Solano Yearbook

The 1936 Santa Paula High School El Solano Yearbook is now online! This edition of the El Solano was unusual in that it was spiral bound. This made the scanning of the pages easier, as the binding wasn't a concern, but many of the pages extended past the metal spiral and this made it difficult to scan the entire page. For the most part though, nothing significant was lost.

The pages were textured and this tended to cause some problems with the sharpness of the image scans. The images were "re-sharpened" digitally, but show some moiré patterns here and there due to the scanning and editing process. Oddly, many of the actual photographs were more blurry than in earlier yearbooks.

Containing very little prose (although there is an interesting bit of poetry on page 62 that appears to describe every member of the senior class), the yearbook contains mainly photographs. It is also interesting in that it shows some of the last pictures of the "second" Santa Paula High School building, a two story classical structure that was damaged during an earthquake in the early 1930's and torn down later that decade. Page 2 shows a couple of good photos of the building.

Although the yearbook was published a few years before World War II, there are signs of the developing conflict. One of the photos shows a student reading a textbook page on "The Spread of Dictatorship 1936" and the same page has a paragraph on "The Need for Patriotism" The yearbook also contains a number of blue "Art" pages which are in the Art Deco style of the period. The graphic on page 21 by Manual Victoria is particularly interesting in that it contains a dirigible flying above a stylized cityscape. The Hindenburg disaster occurred the next year and signaled the end of the huge lighter than air ships.

Winter Sports Rally

A rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner launched the Santa Paula High School Winter Sports Rally. Immediately afterwards, a small invasion of Fillmore Flashes occurred - this rude intrusion was dealt with promptly by Joe Cardinal, and the Rally was allowed to continue.

The SPHS Basketball teams were introduced and everyone was encouraged to go to tonight's game against Fillmore. This was followed by a contest of Cardinal basketball skills that ended in a tie after a tough battle.

The SPHS Soccer teams were then introduced. It was Coach Blevins' birthday, so the soccer challenged him to a game of soccer keepaway. The game moved back and forth across the gym floor, but eventually the students won.

Last but not least of the Winter Sports, the SPHS Wrestling team was introduced.

Rounding out the activities, an energetic dance was performed by Ms. Gomez and her dance partner. This was met by rousing applause from the audience.

The assembly ended with a moment of silence for Jennifer Urrutia, a SPHS student who recently passed away.

Winter Break!

Last day of the Semester - Winter Break! The final Final exam is over, and sixteen days of vacation await. The photos below are just a small sample of the festive decorations found around the school. Have a great Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever winter fest you like!

El Solano Yearbook: 1932

The Santa Paula High School 1932 El Solano Yearbook is online! The yearbook was published during the depression years, and is a small volume containing just over 40 pages of content. As Freeman M. Eakin (the same Eakin for which the Eakin auditorium is named) states in the Principal's message, "The 1932 EL SOLANO in particular is of necessity brief and to the point in its portrayal. The vainglorious boasting which characterizes most annuals has been eliminated and in its places there is a sane and sensible record". Another sign of the times was the formation of a Thrift Club, which makes an appearance in the yearbook.

The 1932 Senior class had just 68 members. The majority had individual photos in the yearbook, although a few just have their names listed. Juniors, Sophomores and Freshmen didn't have individual photos, but were represented by group photos on the steps of the old school building. The class pages took up about a third of the yearbook, with the remainder mainly composed of short articles about school clubs and athletics (softball replaced baseball this year!).

The layout of the online 1932 yearbook is close to the actual layout of the yearbook. The images are slightly touched up for clarity and much of the text was re-typed, instead of scanned, to make it easier to read. To avoid damaging the yearbook, the scanning was done on a very thin scanner perched on the edge of a table so the yearbook would not need to be opened beyond 90 degrees.

In addition to the 1932 El Solano, the 1903 El Solano has been reformatted. The original online version was completed a number of years ago, and although all the content of the yearbook is present, the layout isn't exactly the same as in the actual yearbook.

Academic Achievement / Higher Education Day

This Wednesday, October 21st, Santa Paula High School honored students who earned a 2.5 or higher GPA or significantly improved their grades on their last report card. Eligible students received their tickets at the beginning of forth period and were excused to the Bryden Gym for a special academic assembly followed by lunch provided by the school.

After lunch, seniors attended a college seminar and participated in a college fair in the courtyard that hosted over 20 representatives from various colleges.

The event was a great success and the administration complemented the participating students for their behavior and enthusiasm in continuing their education after high school.

Santa Paula High School Blood Drive

United Blood Services visited Santa Paula High School this Thursday for the Fall blood drive. Sponsored by the Associated Student Body, over 100 students signed up to donate blood and save lives. This year the minimum age to donate blood was lowered to 16 years (with parental permission), and this helped increase the number of students donating. Students donating blood were rewarded with a cool shirt as well as the traditional cookies and juice.

United Blood Services is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1943. They provide blood and blood products to over 500 hospitals throughout the United States, helping over 15 million people in need of lifesaving blood.

If you missed donating blood this time, don't worry - Santa Paula High School will be holding a second blood drive this spring.