Bonita High School

Bonita High School is a high school located in the city of La Verne, California in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Opened in 1903, it was the first high school in the Bonita Unified School District. It moved to its current campus in 1959. The majority of its students come from Ramona Middle School, which is also located in La Verne. The Bearcat athletic teams compete in the Palomares League of the CIF Southern Section.

In 1903, high school classes started on the second floor of a La Verne store. The classes were quickly moved to the building of nearby La Verne Public School (now La Verne Heights Elementary). Two teachers helped open Bonita Union High School, the first school in the Bonita Unified School District, that fall. In 1905, the school relocated to a two-story Mission-style building on Bonita Avenue. The size of the school was expanded to 23 acres in 1922.

In 1959, due to the overcrowding of the school, the school was sold to the Catholic Church and opened as Damien High School. Bonita moved to D Street, where the current campus still stands. Due to the growing population in the City of San Dimas, in 1970 the Bonita Unified School District opened San Dimas High School. Bonita High School  celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2003.

The Bonita Football Stadium was known as the Bearcat Bowl until it was renamed after Glenn Davis in 1986. Throughout the 1970’s the “Voice of the Bearcats” was automotive instructor Richard Graff who would begin every game with “Welcome Everybody to the Bearcat Bowl”.  From 1983 until his retirement in the 2000’s, the voice of the Bearcats was popular Social Science teacher, Bob Turner.  Turner had seen more Smudge pot games than he could count. “I’ve been to every away game I might have missed one. I’ve seen all the Smudge pots, though,” says Turner. He has always enjoyed his role in the announcer’s booth. He says his favorite aspect of the Smudge pot is watching the effect that the game has on the school and the community. Watching tailgate parties in the parking lots and rallies leading to the competition, Turner says he sees a community that brings a college town appeal for that game night. “It’s certainly a La Verne thing to hearken to those collegiate standards,” says Turner of the tradition. “People are trained to it.” The Smudge pot veteran says he has watched the emotion of the rivalry unravel onto the field for numerous years. “Whether you’re the good or the weaker school, that game is up for grabs,” he says of the game’s intensity. “You see it in the first quarter mistakes of angst that you’re going to lose. Players jumping offsides or forgetting to run out for kickoff.”