high school

CrossFit Lake Tahoe will celebrate 10 years in business this weekend with a grand re-opening and ribbon cutting on Friday, June 26. The celebration continues on Saturday, June 27 with a special 'Open Gym Play and Learn' event for those interested in better understanding CrossFit.

Winds hampered firefighting efforts at the lightening caused Saddle Fire on Saturday. As of 6 p.m., the fire has burned 1,480 acres in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, halfway between Redding and Eureka, California.

866 personnel are fighting the fire which is now 15% contained.

Firefighters have been protecting the homes along County Road 311, and as of June 13, no structures have been burned.

Challenges to firefighters include a heavy component of dead and down vegetation (from previous fires), hot, dry conditions, steep terrain, and ongoing drought.

South Tahoe High School is one of the most unique and fun schools I’ve
attended, it’s full of opportunities for students to achieve their maximum

Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe awarded $21,500 in scholarships to South Lake Tahoe high school and college students on Wednesday, June 3.

South Tahoe High School: $1,000 each
Bailey Anderson
Catherine Baghdikian
Natasha Johnson
Rachael Lamore
Trinity Marino LaTella
Alexandria Marschak
Emma Sower

South Tahoe High School – Vocational Scholarship: $500
Arielle Wiza

South Tahoe High School/”Ivone Larson AVID Awards”: $1,000 each
Emily Aminian
Jade Child
Sarah Novak
Joemae Santos
Carli Valney

For over 20 years, students at South Tahoe High have been enjoying a safe and sober Grad Night. Committed parents and community members have been working hard to create a "never to forget" and "once in a lifetime: experience for all STHS graduates.

On the afternoon of June 5, the seniors will be walking down the school's football field during graduation ceremonies. That night, they'll be celebrating at Heavenly's California lodge with games, food, fun, a hypnotist, dancing and more until the early hours of the morning of the 6th.

On behalf of the entire Barton family, I wish to express my deepest condolences to the Fry family on the passing of Dr. Paul J. Fry, II.

Dr. Fry made significant contributions to the health and wellness of our community, and his impact has improved the lives of many.

"Papa Fry," as he was known by many members of the community, was a beloved orthopedic physician in Lake Tahoe and Carson Valley for nearly 50 years. He opened Tahoe Fracture Clinic in 1964, and propelled the orthopedic program to a nationally recognized level.

A mentally disturbed man holding a knife to his own throat in an apartment near South Tahoe High Wednesday morning resulted in a temporary lockdown on the campus.

Just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning a 911 call came in and the School Resource Officer cautioned the high school to conduct a lockdown until police officers could arrive and assess the situation.

Graduates from South Tahoe High will be enjoying an evening of games, music, food and fun on Friday, June 5, 2015 at the longtime local tradition, Sober Grad Night. In an effort to create an event that provides a safe, and sober, event that all seniors can enjoy after their graduation ceremony, the South Tahoe High Sober Grad Night committee has been working for months to make the evening a night to remember.

The Nevada State Baseball Championship title is staying in Northern Nevada, but not with the Whittell Warriors.

Defending their 2014 state title, Whittell went up against Virginia City Saturday morning at Durango High School in Las Vegas.

The 26-9 Warriors lost to the 21-3 Muckers by a score of 14-3.

Whittell is coached by Devin Ruby.

The team:

# Name Position Gr.
2 Chris Evans INF Jr.
5 Nicholas Buchholz INF, P, C Fr.
7 Jake Sharp INF, P, C Sr.
10 Osvaldo Reyes Lucero OF Sr.
13 Armando Rodriguez OF Jr.
14 Peyton Galli INF, P, C Fr.

Whittell High School in Zephyr Cove is ranked as the third best high school in the state of Nevada according to a report released by U.S. News & World Report. Their scores rated them "above average" in college readiness, mathematics and reading while their student to teacher ratio is below average (14 students per 1 teacher).

Out of the top ten public, magnet and private schools in the state, seven are in Northern Nevada.

View complete list of Nevada's top schools here.

- Many children go undiagnosed and unidentified; they are penalized for inappropriate behavior though symptomatic.
- 42% of diagnosed students graduate with a high school diploma.
- 48% of diagnosed students drop out of school.
- 50% will serve jail time after leaving school; 20% serve sentences prior to leaving school.
- Currently 12 % of children in America under the age of 18 have a diagnosable
mental illness.
- Among the US population, mental illness impacts 1 in 4 individuals.
- 50% of adult cases of mental illness had signs and symptoms by age 14.

With only 400 yearbooks purchased at South Tahoe High School last year, new Principal Chad Houck wanted to change that fact.

"The yearbook is a timeless record of each year at the high school," Houck said in a letter to parents. " It is a symbol of belonging to something good and important. It is also one of the traditions that students end their year with and can set the excitement for the next school year."

Whittell High School's varsity baseball team will be defending their 2014 Nevada State Title this week as they head to the 2015 NIAA Division IV Tournament in Las Vegas.

The Warriors went 2-1 this weekend's Northern Nevada playoffs, getting wins over Wells and Mineral County.

The boys from the South Shore will enter the State Tournament as the number two seed from the north. Virginia City is number one.

Here is the State Tournament schedule:

Thursday, May 14, 2015 @ Durango High School (Las Vegas)

Game 1 – PAHRANAGAT VALLEY (#1 Southern) vs. WHITTELL (#2 Northern),

As South Lake Tahoe prepares to host Stages 1 & 2 of the AMGEN Tour of California Women's Race on May 8-9, people are working throughout the community, preparing for all of the events surrounding the world class cycling event.

There is a VIP reception and team presentation at Riva Grill on Thursday, May 7 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Two Whittell High School juniors, Chris Evans and Aubrey Felton, are working on their Eagle Scout rank. The young men aren't doing any textbook effort and have set their goals very high with taking on a hands-on project at a school in Thailand.

To raise the funds needed to complete the project, Evans and Felton have joined forces with the Tahoe Douglas Rotary Club in putting on Burger Night at the Red Hut Cafe Ski Run location on Wednesday, May 6 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

South Lake Tahoe's major summer event, the American Century Championship, will once again add another U.S. Army veteran and hero to the 2015 event this July.

Retired United States Army Sergeant Major Rodney Gorman will join the field by virtue of his victory in the 2014 George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Warrior Open. He will join Corporal Chad Pfeifer at Edgewood this summer. Pfeifer was the three-time defending Warrior Open champion and the 2014 tournament's fifth place finisher.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today reported California’s cohort graduation rate climbed for the fifth year in a row in 2014 to a record high, with the biggest jump taking place among English learners.

Among students who started high school in 2010-11, 80.8 percent graduated with their class in 2014, up 0.4 of a percentage point from the year before. The California graduation rate has increased substantially since the class of 2010 posted a 74.7 percent rate.

Some children live a life characterized by habit and routine. Imagine them being forced to leave their life behind all because there wasn’t enough space and funding. This is what foster children in Lake Tahoe are forced deal with. Primarily, SLT should pass a General Obligation Bond, and, though the cost of raising a child is exorbitant, this cost could be ameliorated by support from passing a General Obligation Bond measure.

Let’s transform South Lake Tahoe into one of the healthiest places for our children…a place where mental health issues are quickly identified and treated…a place where parents and caregivers are well-educated in recognizing the early warning signs. Let’s give the next generation the best chance possible at thriving.

In March we participated in the Mental Health Forum sponsored by Barton and the South Tahoe Unified School District. We were impressed by the passion presented by the many school-teachers, Barton ER doctors, and others that care deeply about Mental Wellness.

Reno resident Rodney Skan, age 60, plead guilty on April 8 in Washoe County to a charge of stalking after he admitted to videotaping four Reno high school girls during the fall of 2013. Police found 175 hours of footage in his motel room of the girls, ages 14, 15 and two 17-year-olds taken at local high school girls sporting events. Skan fixated on particular girls, following them to multiple games throughout the season.

Tokay High School (Lodi) football coach and athletic director Louis Franklin announced Monday he will be stepping down at the end of the school year after being offered “an opportunity to join Lake Tahoe Unified School District.”

Franklin, a 2000 Tokay graduate, has been the school’s head football coach since 2007 and the athletic director since 2010, when he replaced Jeff Johnston.
Franklin was 38-46 as Tokay’s head coach, including an 0-4 record in the playoffs, but finished with three winning seasons.

The Whittell High School varsity baseball team is trying to extend their record to 14-0 Wednesday afternoon as they host Coleville at the Warrior's field in a 2 p.m. match-up.

On Tuesday, the boys in red beat Sierra Lutheran by a score of 12-1 which came on the heels of their double header win over Eureka on March 28 where they beat Vandals 11-1 and 15-7.

Coach Devin Ruby's young team is made up of two seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and four freshman: Chris Evans, Andrew Carlisle, Nicholas Buchholz,

There was both good and bad news in the message released by El Dorado County today. For the fifth consecutive year, El Dorado County has ranked among the top ten healthiest counties statewide in an annual report by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The "County Health Rankings" report, released on March 25, 2015, ranked El Dorado County 7th healthiest among the 57 ranked counties in California.

Expect to see some smoke around the Lake Tahoe basin this week as the U.S. Forest Service continues their prescribed fire operations.

Starting Monday, March 30, 2015, weather permitting, the burning of hand piles of wood and slash will take place in Blackwood Canyon between Tahoe City and Tahoma, on the south side of Meeks Bay, on Gardner Mountain near South Tahoe High School and off Gardner Street, on Luther Pass near Grass Lake, at Ski Run Boulevard near Heavenly and on the East Shore near Logan Creek Drive.

Operations may last through the next several weeks as conditions allow.