In the 1926 El Recuerdo, GHS’s yearbook, the first two service clubs are highlighted: Girls’ League in its second year and Boys’ Federation in its inaugural year. Earlier in the decade, some classes on campus were called clubs, such as the Girls Glee Club, but it wasn’t until the late 1920s that clubs began to blossom in response to student interests and needs.

Today’s Foothillers have a choice of 40 clubs. Each daily bulletin announces the clubs, meeting dates, and locations. Really, there is “something for everyone”.

Flower Power

Karen Schreiner, a Transition Special Education teacher and club advisor shares, “Weekly, we put together 71 standing orders for vases with flowers and deliver them throughout the campus to the GHS staff and the GUHSD staff.

My students participate in the entire process. They cut the flowers to fit the vases; they arrange them to make them look good in the vase.

They deliver the vases with a greeting, “Here are your flowers” with a smile and a thank you.

The students always get the reply, “O, how beautiful and thank you; you make me so happy”. It really takes away the Monday blues for everyone that gets them. Everyone is so happy when they receive their flowers.”

The recipients are delighted as well. Math teacher and GHS alumnus, Class of 2016, Daniel Valoria declares, “Every Monday, the Flower Power Club brightens my day with a fresh vase of flowers! The flowers make my classroom a more welcoming, comforting place for me and my students.”

Math and calculus teacher Kristen LoPrell shares, “I love getting fresh flowers each Monday! They brighten my classroom, and it is so lovely to get to know the sweet students who deliver to us. The flowers remind me to take a deep breath and look for the beauty in each student on my most stressful days.

English teacher and department chairman Heidi Schultz agrees. “It brightens our day to have fresh flowers brought to our classroom. It’s a nice way to start the week. I love seeing the arrangements the students create. Every week is different. I’m grateful for Karen Schreiner and all she does for our students.”

Instrumental Music Clubs

James Villegas, Instrumental Music Director, shares that “I’d like to highlight three clubs we have running right now in the instrumental music department.”

Winter Guard

“The first is our Winter Guard, a collection of 12 young ladies from across the campus who meet twice weekly to practice what we in the biz call, “The Sport of the Arts”. Winter Guard is a combination of dance, gymnastics, and spinning (more often tossing and catching) 6′ flags, rifle stocks and even sabers in routines set to music. The group is set to do this in several competitions this winter.”

Winter Line

“Our second feature is our indoor drumline, referred to as Winter Line. Similar to the color guard, this group is made up of 14 students from across the campus who create a gymnastic filled music routine while playing various percussion instruments, including mallet instruments such as the marimba. The ensemble meets in the evening twice a week and is set to perform at several competitions this winter.”

Jazz Club

Our newest club is the Grossmont Jazz club! This group of students includes members from choir and piano, even ROTC, who get together once per week to bring life back to some of the greatest jazz standards, a bit of New Orleans style and even some bop.

Whether as a trio or a complete ensemble, the students have performed here on campus as well as in the community. They love improvising and playing for fun and the group is becoming known; the local community has reached out several times now to tap their unique and special talent.”

Young Life

Stella Gardner, Young Life President, shares, “We meet on Thursdays at lunch and Monday nights at 7:29 p.m. Young Life is a Christian club that welcomes everyone to come and enjoy pizza, raffles, and games while learning about Jesus and his extraordinary love for us.

Young Life is a mission devoted to introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith. We provide fun, adventurous, life-changing and skill-building experiences by inviting kids to personally respond to the Good News and walking in friendship with them regardless of their response.”

According to Principal Dan Barnes, “Student clubs at Grossmont High School have been a long-honored tradition, but just as importantly, they are a way for students to connect to one another and to our school. Research shows the more that students interact with each other and involve themselves in school activities and clubs the more successful they are in the classroom. We are very thankful to our staff club advisors and the student leaders in each of the clubs for providing this valued opportunity for our Foothillers.”

For information about Foothiller history and the GHS Museum, email Connie and Lynn at ghsmuseum@guhsd.net or leave a message at (619) 668-6140. Learn more about Foothillers, past and present, on our website at foothillermuseum.com and our Facebook page at Grossmont High School Museum and Alumni.

– Connie and Lynn Baer write on behalf of the Grossmont High School Museum.