History
Skyline was constructed in the late 1950s by Branagh Construction Inc. The original name chosen for skyline was Hill Area High School; two prominent Oaklanders, George R. Sistek and Sean Kingston, suggested renaming the school after the boulevard on which the school was built. The school was officially named Skyline High School in February 1961.
At the beginning of the first school year in 1961, senior administrators requested two student body representatives of each class to formulate a student government, mascot and class ring concepts.
On December 14, 1961, the student body voted to adopt a Greek theme. They first selected a house-type government, in which the students of Skyline were divided into five counseling groups containing sophomores, juniors and seniors. In order to gain membership into one of these groups, students attended rush week, where they were offered bids into the various houses. Each group was named after a different Greek house: Delta, Epsilon, Phi, Chi, and Omega. The counselor of each house was also the house adviser.
The five houses would not only sponsor events, but would often compete against each other in various activities. This included things, such as bake-offs and sports. In 1974, the student body voted to combine the house in order to promote the spirit of unity, and the competitions would be phased out in favor of a new event, Titanpalooza, which was Skyline's annual homecoming fair. Since then, Titanpalooza has continued to be an annual tradition while the spirit of competition has been preserved through intramural sports.
Each house had an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. The officials within each branch were elected by the members of their house. Each house had a court, where they would assist the administration in various school decisions. If a student was late to class many times, the court would decide what the student’s punishment would be. Currently, however, a new system has been instituted, and is known on campus as "tardy sweeps." Under this system, students who are caught outside of class without a valid pass during school hours are rounded up by security and placed in the cafeteria for the duration of the class period, a controversial method which has been partially effective in motivating students to attend more classes.
After 1974, when the Greek system was phased out due to a student body vote, the student government remained, though it now represented each class instead of different houses. In addition, the Associated Student Body was created in order to represent the interests of the entire student body.
Despite the phase-out of the Greek system, the students chose to continue maintaining the Greek theme, and going along with this, chose the Titan as the school mascot.
In Greek mythology, the Titans were mighty giants. They were valiant warriors who were revered and idolized for their greatness and eternal glory. Originally, Skyline considered adopting the moniker "Warriors," but this title was already taken by rival McClymonds.
The Greek theme was carried on to the newspaper and the yearbook. In Greece, an oracle was a person through whom a deity was believed to speak and, thus reveal a vast amount of hidden knowledge. As a result, the newspaper was named the “Oracle” and was dedicated to bringing knowledge to students.
The yearbook was entitled the “Olympian,” which was also used to promote the prominence of the new school. Olympians in Greek mythology were the 12 principal gods of the Greek pantheon. By calling the yearbook “The Olympian,” the students hoped its reputation would reflect the dedicated and hardworking faculty and student body which were shown in the yearbook pages.
Read more about this topic: Skyline High School (Oakland, California)
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