School's Out! Have an incredible summer! Read lots of books, swim lots, go on vacation and be safe!
Red Team Wins Ballroom Dance Team Match
See the results here!
Mock Trials Team Wins!
For the second year in a row, Centennial Middle School students captured the state Mock Trial championship. Centennial’s A team defeated West High School’s 9th grade team in a close final round on April 2nd in the State Court of Appeals courtroom. Taking the role of the defense in the final round, Centennial won on the merits of the case when their client was found not guilty, and also emerged victorious in the more important performance points.
Advised by teacher Krista Thornock and attorney Chuck Abbott, the students began preparations in January for competitions which began in late February. The students met twice weekly at 6:45 a.m. to learn courtroom procedures and prepare materials. The competition requires students to take both sides, representing both the Prosecution and the Defense in preliminary rounds of the competition. Play-off rounds were determined by coin toss, which placed Centennial as the Prosecution until the final round. “Even though our Prosecution case was the most polished,” commented Thornock, “the kids didn’t let that deter them and spent hours memorizing and revising their defense materials in the days before the final round. They won because of their work ethic; I am so proud of them.”
Centennial had sixteen students participate who were divided into two teams for the state competition. Comprised of students from the American Studies classes, both teams emerged from preliminary rounds with winning records and were advanced to the play-offs. Team B began the play-offs as the highest ranked team in the state and ended up placing 8th. Members of that team were: Gabe Bradford, Emma Chapman, Hunter Gibson, Justin Jensen, Benjamin Seely, Gibson Sibley, Cariel Smith, and Hayley Walker.
Team A found great success through the play-offs and competed in the finals. They defended Centennial’s victory from last year and are the 2009 State Champions. Members of Team A were: Megan Asplund, Megan Crookston, Lydia Estes, Tess Jackson, Brennan Rasmussen, Christian Sorensen, Joshua Urquiaga, and Tanner Williams. These students will be honored at the State Bar Association’s Law Day luncheon on May 1st. This is Centennial’s seventh state title in the competition.
Sponsored by the State Bar Association’s Law Related Education Project, the Utah Mock Trial competition was established in 1980 to teach students their rights and responsibilities as citizens. Each year, volunteer attorneys write or adapt a legal case involving issues of interest to youth. A handbook containing established facts, signed affidavits, and other legal information regarding the case, along with the rules and information related to the tournament, is provided for all participants.
Team members play roles of witnesses, attorneys, clerks, and bailiffs in courtrooms throughout the state. The Mock Trial Competition is open to all public and private secondary schools in Utah. Each year, more than 1,000 students, 80 teachers, 300 attorneys, and 100 community representatives participate in over 110 mock trials statewide.
Ballroom dance students dance to 6th place Division 1 and 5th place Division 2 at BYU Nationals!
See more pictures here
Pay your school lunch fees online. Visit the link above!
Now at Centennial: Parents can pay for school fees/yearbooks online at the new school fees website at http://myschoolfees.com. Just log on and follow the instructions. If you have any questions, please call the school and ask for Linda Freeze. See the link in the above menubar called "Online Payments".
Centennial Dancers take first place at UVU on Saturday!
Centennial Math Counts Students Excel at Regions!
We took first place at the MathCounts Central Utah Regional Competition!
Congratulations to Wayne Li (1st), Zhaoyue Xu (4th), Peter Young (5th),
and Amanda Gao for a great job in capturing first place. They will be
invited to the State Competition in March.
Also participating were Daniel Arias, Gabe Richardson, David Armond, and
Michael Salisbury.
Centennial Students Take First in State ‘We the People’ Competition!
article by: Charlene Humphreys (CMS student)
Thirty honors students from Centennial Middle School brought home the state title in the “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” Junior High competition, which was held last Thursday in Salt Lake City. Full Story 
CMS Student Council Helps Sick Children
Primary Children’s Hospital never turns a child away because they can’t afford to pay. One way they have of providing that care is through money raised at the annual Festival of Trees. The Centennial Student Council donated a tree this year to help the cause.
Members of Student Council sanded and painted ornaments weeks in advance for their Heartfelt Holiday tree. They brain-stormed seasonal words and put them on the ornaments with vinyl lettering. Over-sized jingle bells, bows, and berries were added to the tree and a burlap skirt with fake gifts completed the look.
“I was in charge of making the bows and putting them on the tree,” said Emilee Sudweeks, Studentbody Historian. “I was surprised at how great our tree looked when we finished.” The Student body Officers were responsible for taking the tree to the Festival and spent a day putting it together and decorating it.
Trees are decorated and donated from people throughout the community and auctioned off just after Thanksgiving every year. Because the trees are donated, all proceeds go directly to help children. Centennial’s tree sold on the first night of the Festival.
“We had a lot of fun and it felt great to know we were a small part of helping sick kids when they need it the most,” commented Student body President Benny Cardullo.
Student Council advisor Miss Thornock said that CMS has participated in Festival of Trees for over eight years. “It is just one way our leaders give back to the community.”
Centennial Students Put on Comedy!
See more pictures here!
Students Win State Radon Awareness Poster Contest
Emma Sorenson and Taite Haynes won the state Radon Poster Contest. See the full story at here. See their meeting with the Governer with Emma and Taite.
Students win state Anti-Drinking Contest
Students from Mr. Barker's Multi-media class at Centennial Middle School entered the First Annual contest of making public service announcements against underage drinking. The contest is sponsored by the Utah Council for Crime Prevention. Students in grades 7 - 12 could enter.
The students were required to write, produce, and edit a 30 second Public Service announcement against underage drinking.
A Centennial student group received the 1st place award! Another team received Honorable Mention. The students in the first place group were: (L to R) Seth Ringger, Raini Wall, Tyler Stevenson, Christian Sorensen, Joseph Partridge, Charles Tu'ua. The Honorable mention team were :Emily Rich, Ben Wells, Rhett Van Leeuwen, and Taylor Simpson.
The winning students were able to attend the 11th annual "Power of Prevention" Contest. They also received a trophy and gift certificates to local restaurants.