Benicia High School

Coordinates: 38°03′56″N 122°10′30″W / 38.06556°N 122.17500°W / 38.06556; -122.17500^[1]

Benicia High School is a public high school serving approximately 1,700 students, grades nine through twelve.^[2] It is part of the Benicia Unified School District. It is located in Benicia, California, in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. Like most California high schools, it is an open-air facility. The campus is adjacent to Mary Farmar Elementary School.

Academics

Advanced Placement courses

Benicia High School offers the following Advanced Placement courses:

• Art History
• Biology
• Calculus (AB and BC)
• Chemistry
• English Language and Composition
• English Literature and Composition
• Environmental Science
• European History
• Human Geography
• Psychology
• Spanish Language
• Studio Art
• United States Government
• United States History

Extra-curricular activities

Athletics

Benicia High School competes in the Solano County Athletic Conference (SCAC) in Division II of the Sac-Joaquin Section.^[3]

Sports include:^[4]

• Badminton
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cheerleading
• Cross Country
• Football
• Golf
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Track & Field
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming
• Water Polo
• Wrestling

Theatre

Throughout the year, the department puts on two dance shows and two plays, one of which is a musical. In some years the students put on their own production. The department also funds an improvisational comedy team which performs shows on select Fridays throughout the school year.

Band

The band consists of five main groups: the marching band, the concert bands, the color guard, the jazz band, and the drumline. The bands and the colorguard perform and compete regularly in the fall and spring, as well as a winter color guard and winter drumline. The band competes in the Northern California Band Association. The band was formerly under the direction of Dalt Williams, who led the band program from 1968 to 1995, then Roxanna Macheel, who led the band program from 1995 to 2006. The program is now led by Patrick Martin, who won the Northern California Band Association's Director of the Year Award in 2012 and conducted the All Northern California Junior High Honor Band in 2014.

• Marching Band - The marching band performed in the 2001 and 2005 Tournament of Roses Parades.^[5][6][7][8] The marching band receives high scores at NCBA competitions every year.
• Concert Bands - Benicia High School has two concert bands, a symphonic band and an audition-only wind ensemble. In 2003 the wind ensemble performed at the California Band Directors' Association state conference. In 2005 the wind ensemble was selected to perform at the California Music Educators' Association state convention in Pasadena, California. Both concert groups play some of the most difficult music in concert band repertoire, including "To Tame the Perilous Skies," "Twelve Seconds to the Moon," "Music of the Spheres," "Galilean Moons," "Spin Cycle," "Exotic Particles and the Confinement of Quarks," and "The Tyger."
• Color Guard - The Benicia High School Color Guard competes along with the marching band during marching season and by itself during the winter season.
• Jazz Band - The jazz band competes and performs in several concerts throughout the year at venues such as jazz festivals, car shows, gift and wine auctions, crab feeds, school concerts, and back-to-school night.
• Drum Line - The Benicia High School Winter Drumline is an NCBA Open class marching percussion ensemble. Their 2010 show, "A Dark Circus," won the unit first place at the NCBA Winter Championships hosted at Foothill High School in Pleasanton, California.
• A capella - Originally founded by Ryan Betita in 2009, A capella was the Panther Band Program vocal group. Their repertoire included hip hop songs by various artists. Their name is not to be confused with "a cappella," the genre of music that includes no instruments other than the human voice. The group is defunct as of 2015.

Yearbook

The yearbook is designed and produced by students as part of a class.

Student Leadership

The leadership class puts on events, rallies, and spirit days for the high school.

References