Centennial High School is a public secondary school located in unincorporatedClark County, Nevada, United States, in Las Vegas. The school serves about 3000 students in grades 9 to 12 in the Clark County School District. In 2000, the movie Pay It Forward was filmed at Centennial High. The Centennial boys volleyball team from 2003 under head coach David Fish went undefeated and had three of its players go on to play at the division 1 collegiate level at Brigham Young University. 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. And has the Overall Best NJROTC in the nation. The school gained notoriety when it was learned that the 311 Boyz attended school there. The youths were heavily influenced by the Bumfights 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 unit was rated the most outstanding in the nation by The Navy League.They have been known for being one of the best and youngest Units in America. 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. Centennial's NJROTC is run by the Senior Naval Science Instructor, Commander Richard Pokropski, and three Naval Science Instructors: Senior Chief Petty Officer Thomas Borders, Master Chief Petty Officer Jim Lyle, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Sayre. All three instructors are United States Navy, retired, while the Commander is United States Coast Guard, retired. Captain Hardeman retired at the end of the 2010-2011 school year and Petty Officer First Class Johnson retired at the end of the 2018-2019 school year. Centennial High School NJROTC unit has won the Navy Nationals competition twice in its history, unusually winning by both the largest margin and subsequently the smallest margin. 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 and is now the Assistant Professor of Choral Music at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.
