Ms. Giard is leaving Granite Hills at the end of this school year to take on a new position as VAPA Teacher on Special Assignment at the District Office.
She is sad to leave Granite but is excited about her new career opportunity.
She is absolutely THRILLED to introduce Ms. Benitez as the new Theatre Teacher and Director starting August 2023!
Welcome, Ms. Benitez!
Julie Benitez has taught Theatre in the Grossmont Union High School district since 1996–the last 27 years at Monte Vista High. Ms. Benitez received her undergraduate degree in Theatre and Education from Iowa State University and her Master of Fine Arts from Arizona State's prestigious Theatre for Youth and Community program. She is a co-founder of Teach Tech Theatre and has taught numerous workshops and conferences over the last 15 years to other theatre teachers in the country about how to teach safety, the basics of technical theatre, and how to make your sets stand out. Ms. Benitez has been a Teaching Artist at La Jolla Playhouse since 2015 focusing on teaching technical theatre to incarcerated youth and to adults and students in the general public. She is a Board Member-at-Large for the San Diego Theatre Educators Alliance (SDTEA) and heads up the Tech Fest that SDTEA does in conjunction with Grossmont Theatre. She has received the Bravissimo Award for Theatre Teacher in 2006 and was honored as Teacher of the Year at Monte Vista High in 2018.