Centennial High School is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

located in unincorporated Clark County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. The school serves about 3000 students in grades 9 to 12 in the

Clark County School District The Clark County School District (CCSD) is the public school district serving Clark County in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is the largest school district in Nevada and the fifth-largest school district in the United States with 304,565 enro ...

. In 2000, the movie ''

Pay It Forward Pay it forward is an expression for describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying the kindness to others rather than paying it back to the original benefactor. It is also called serial reciprocity. The concept is old, but the particular ph ...

'' was filmed at Centennial High. The Centennial boys volleyball team from 2003 under head coach David Fish went undefeated (23-0) and had three of its players go on to play at the division 1 collegiate level at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

. Centennial High School has had thirteen state championship teams in the 2008-2009 school year: men's cross-country, women's basketball, women's soccer, and women's softball. Centennial High School is also well known for having one of the best Track and Field programs in the state. Head Coach, Roy Sessions, has led the women's team to 13 State wins. The school gained notoriety when it was learned that the

311 Boyz The 311 Boyz was a teen gang in Las Vegas, Nevada, estimated at 140 members, who beginning in the summer of 2003 committed or were suspected of a number of violent acts. In 2003, the gang consisted mostly of young males who attended Centennial ...

attended school there. The youths were heavily influenced by the ''

Bumfights ''Bumfights'' is an American video series produced by Indecline Films. The debut release titled ''Bumfights Vol.1: A Cause for Concern'' features primarily high school student fights caught on tape and homeless men (most notably Rufus Hannah and ...

'' series. In 2004, Bumfights copyright holder Ty Besson praised the school for "educating teens the right way to learn".

Extracurricular activities

NJROTC

In 2007, the Centennial High School Naval

Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military bases across the world. The progr ...

(NJROTC) unit was rated the most outstanding in the nation by The Navy League. In 2001 and 2008, the Centennial High School NJROTC unit won 3rd overall in the nation at the Navy Nationals Championship in Pensacola, Florida. The 2014-2015 school year the Centennial High School NJROTC won 3rd overall and 1st in the nation for their Color Guard. The 2015-2016 school year at Navy Nationals, Centennial took home 4th in the nation and 3rd in the nation for Color Guard. Also in the 2015-2016 school year, Centennial High School NJROTC was awarded Overall Best Unit from the Area 13 Commander, Captain Daniel Wenceslao (USN Ret.). Centennial's NJROTC is run by the Senior Naval Science Instructor, Commander Richard Pokropski, and three Naval Science Instructors: Gunnery Sergeant Jermaine Smith, Master Chief Petty Officer Jim Lyle, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Sayre. Two instructors are United States Navy, retired, One is United States Marine Corps, Retired , while the Commander is United States Coast Guard, retired. Captain Hardeman retired at the end of the 2010-2011 school year, Petty Officer First Class Johnson retired at the end of the 2018-2019 school year, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Borders retired at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. Centennial High School NJROTC unit has won the Navy Nationals competition twice in its history, unusually winning by both the largest margin (200 points, 2009) and subsequently the smallest margin (3 points, 2010). Just as important, they are the ONLY school to be selected as the Capt. Jim Harvey award winner in two different years. This award is presented to the school that best displays fair play, hard work, sportsmanship and pride in all they do.

Singers

In 2007 under the direction of Alan Zabriskie the Centennial High School Chamber Singers were honored to sing at the 2007 ACDA National Convention in Miami, Florida. The new choral teacher is Karen Miskell. Prior to Zabriskie, Nicki Bakko Toliver was the Choral Director who developed the high quality choral program earning Superior and Gold ratings from regional and national competitions. Her students performed in District, State and National Honor Choirs. She has recently completed her DMA in choral conducting at

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was ...

and is now the Assistant Professor of Choral Music at

Wartburg College Wartburg College is a Private college, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Waverly, Iowa. History Wartburg College was founded in 1852 in Saginaw, Michig ...

Waverly, Iowa Waverly is a city in Bremer County, Iowa, United States. The population was 10,394 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Bremer County and is part of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metropolitan area. The sister city of Waverly is ...

Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association State Championships

*Volleyball (Boys) - 2003, 2018, 2019 *Basketball (Girls) – 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 *Cross Country (Boys) – 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 *Cross Country (Girls) – 2000 *Cheer leading - 2010 *Soccer (Girls) – 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009 *Softball - 2004, 2009, 2012 *Track and Field (Girls) – 2002, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 *Track and Field (Boys) - 2012, 2013, 2015 *Bowling (Boys)- 2011, 2013, 2014 *Bowling (Girls) - 2016 *Science Olympiad- 2012, 2014 *Baseball (Boys) Bryce Massanari

Notable alumni

Troy Brown Jr. Troy Randall Brown Jr. (born July 28, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). In his senior year of high school, Brown was named a 2017 McDonald's All-Ameri ...

(born 1999),

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player for the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

Aaron Fotheringham Aaron Fotheringham is an extreme wheelchair athlete who performs tricks adapted from skateboarding and BMX. He competes in the Vegas Am Jam series in skate park competitions, usually against BMX riders. Fotheringham calls his activity "WCMX". ...

(born 1991), extreme wheelchair athlete and the first person to land a backflip in a wheelchair *

Nehemiah Kauffman On October 26, 2016, Sydney Land and her boyfriend Nehemiah Kauffman were shot and killed in her apartment in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their bodies were found the next day. Initially, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (also known as Metro) annou ...

(1996–2016), victim of unsolved shooting * Jonah Laulu,

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

defensive tackle for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

Italee Lucas Italee Lucas (born January 12, 1989) is an American-Angolan professional basketball player. Born in the United States, in 2015 Lucas was granted Angolan nationality and became eligible to play for the Angola women's national basketball team, Ang ...

(born 1989), selected 21st overall by the Tulsa Shock in the 2011 WNBA draft. * Alex Marshall (born 1989), piano/guitarist for the band

The Cab The Cab is an American rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. The band consists of lead vocalist Alexander DeLeon, keyboardist Alex T. Marshall and bassist Joey Thunder. Their debut studio album, '' Whisper War'', was released on April 29, 2008. T ...

Tommy Pham Thomas James Pham (born March 8, 1988) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Cin ...

(born 1988), major league baseball outfielder *

Tasha Schwikert Tasha Schwikert Moser (born November 21, 1984) is a retired American gymnast who is a 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, a World Gymnastics Championships team gold medalist, the 2001 and 2002 U.S. senior national all-around champion and the 2005 and ...

(born 1984), member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team in gymnastics NCAA champion, and six-time national champion. * Rhamondre Stevenson (born 1998), NFL player

Feeder schools

*Eileen Conners Elementary School *Edith Garehime Elementary School *Shiela R. Tarr Academy of International Studies Elementary School *Marc Kahre Elementary School *Dorothy Eisenberg Elementary School *Ruthe Duskin Elementary School *Dean Lamar Allen Elementary School *Marshall C. Darnell Elementary School *Henry & Evelyn Bozarth Elementary School *Justice Myron E. Leavitt Middle School *Edmundo “Eddie” Escobedo Senior Middle School *Irwin & Susan Molasky Junior High School

References

{{authority control Clark County School District Educational institutions established in 1999 High schools in Clark County, Nevada School buildings completed in 1999 1999 establishments in Nevada Public high schools in Nevada