CENTENNIAL HIGH SCHOOL- The start of the school year began with a tint of sleepiness left over from the summer, but the sleepy energy quickly dissipated into the explosive spirit of the first pep rally of the year. The tropical theme shined brightly as a huge beach ball was thrown into each student section and students and teachers with leis hyped up the crowd. 

The pep rally started off strong as the murmur of the crowd died down and applause erupted. Sports captains started off by addressing the crowd about starting the new year. Excited about starting a new season and a new school year, the captains promoted their teams and their goals for the school year. Tennis, especially, emphasized them going to competitions.

Senior Yash Gupta, in a straw hat, addressed the crowd with his booming voice and guided the student sections to yell “CHS Titans!” in their respective grades. Soon after, he helped lead a game of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” for representatives from each grade. Gupta announced what body part they needed to touch until he said, “Ball!” and the fastest person to pick the football up won.  Samantha Hengsteinberg, the sophomore representative, won the game. 

  Centennial Cheerleaders took the center of the gymnasium, performed their formations, and took turns doing flips and other tricks. After rolling up the mats, the Sweethearts took the stage next with their performance. With smooth flips, they started off their performance with finesse and beautiful grace. Their performance ended with cheers.

 The pep rally ended with the students standing and raising their Cs to the sky and yelling “Red, White, Blue, Cen10 Titans!” Some foam footballs were thrown into the crowd, and some students like Junior Aditi Kaushik caught them. 

Kaushik felt lucky to have caught a ball and appreciated getting to keep it as a souvenir from the pep rally. 

The hype in the pep rally must have worked because the Titans won the game that evening, 7:30 p.m., against the Richardson Eagles.