Clubs at Centennial

Active Minds

Active Minds is led by school psychologist, Stacy Rosuck, and student leaders Ana Cunningham and Naomi Chao. It is an inclusive group that meets to discuss the topic of mental health. They strive to save lives and give people an outlet to talk. The club has helped build a better community, and plans to continue with this, meeting most Tuesday afternoons at 3:30, using code CHS-ActiveMinds.

Alpha Achievers

Alpha Achievers is sponsored by Centennial math teacher Justin Thomas and led by seniors Joshua Dayie, Bryson Baker, Javion Walters, Khalil Conteh and junior Nathan Dayie. The club is an education program for African-American males and focuses on helping their members maintain academic excellence, develop life skills, work on character growth, and be the best citizens of the community that they can be.

American Cancer Society

American Cancer Society is sponsored by Lori Estes and Nan Collins and is led by students Diego Montemayor, Sarika Kapadia, Melody Chu, and Tejaswi Datla. They raise awareness and funds to donate to the National American Cancer Society, while participating in events and fundraisers.

Anime Club

Anime Club is sponsored by Toni Ireland and led by students Jocelyn Choo, Hira Khan, Peter Wang, and Eric Song. They watch and discuss anime as a group during their meetings, and help to host Otakufest, which is a festival held in Howard County that’s meant to bring light to the anime community.

Aquila

Aquila is Centennial’s student run, student funded, student produced literary arts magazine. Throughout the year, the publication accepts art and writing submissions; each week at meetings, they evaluate the submissions to determine if they are worthy of publication. Several times a year, Aquila holds various fundraisers, including coffeehouses and used book sales, to raise money for publishing the magazine. In the spring, students lay out and edit selected works to create a diverse publication celebrating students’ artistic and literary achievements. During virtual learning, meetings are Wednesday at 11:15.

Badminton Club

Badminton Club is sponsored by Robert Astri and led by students Peter Wang, Pingan Tang, Melody Chu, Connor Pymm, and Forrest Lin. They play badminton every day, both casually and competitively, and wish to organize a county-wide badminton tournament in the future.

Best Buddies

Best Buddies is sponsored by Lizz Engle and Colin Moe and led by students Lauren Scott, Sarah Han, Mahee Patel, Katherine Roybal, Aliya Stewert, Riley Stile, and Owen Derro. Best Buddies is an international organization whose purpose is to create friendships for people with and without intellectual disabilities.

Beyond the Hashtag

Beyond the Hashtag is sponsored by David Riddler and led by students Ellen Landrum, Christly Bright, Julia Littlefield, Zoe Worthy, Francesca Cumello, and Maddie Ceglia. Their primary focus is to promote student activism, and offer opportunities to donate, volunteer, and petition. 

C# Acapella

C# is a student-run ensemble that practices acapella music. The director this year is Nicole Ouellette, a 2021 graduate. This club encourages students who audition to involve themselves with singing during club meetings, which occur every Monday at 3:30 pm, and during concerts, which occur during each Centennial choral concert.

Chess Club

The goal of Chess club is to promote the game of chess among players of all ages and skill levels. The club leaders are Andy Diep (President), Peter Wang (Vice President), Pranav Prakash (Secretary), and Ryan Yu (Curriculum Director). During club meetings, which are held every Tuesday from 3:30 to 4:30pm, chess lessons are provided to members. which teach strategies and tactics, among other things. At the moment, the Chess Club is planning their next Varsity League tournament with other high schools to be held on December 21 of this year.

Chinese Club

Chinese club is meant to promote and bring awareness to Chinese culture through group activities. Their mission is to provide others with a deeper understanding and heightened appreciation for Chinese culture. Emily Mark and Ryan Zheng are the co-presidents of the Chinese club, the vice president is Janet Zhang, and the secretary is Andy Zong. Meetings consist of group members giving presentations, designing various cultural objects, watching Chinese films, playing Chinese games, and participating in other activities together

Christian Athletes

Christian Athletes is a club that focuses on connecting student athletes through Christ. They meet on the first and third Tuesdays of every month to play games, talk about school, and discuss short devotionals. Their goal is to work towards strengthening their relationship with God.

Clothing Collective

Clothing Collective aims to help people make informed decisions on their personal clothing choices in order to spread awareness on how clothing purchases can affect the environment.  This club doubles as a safe space for members to communicate with others about fashion and other enjoyable clothing-related topics. Once school resumes, the members of Clothing Collective plan to host monthly DIY sessions where old clothes can be transformed into new ones. Currently, this club is hoping to organize a clothing drive with a few different organizations.

Film Club

Film club is a group that aims to teach members all about videography and how to film, edit, and direct short videos. The group also produces the virtual Centennial announcements that are published each week on Canvas. They meet every Tuesday at 3:15.

FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Club

FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Club is a group that is focused on creating robots to compete in the annual FIRST Tech Challenge. Normally, they meet every Tuesday, Friday, and every other Saturday in a non virtual setting, but they currently meet once a week on Fridays over Google Meet. Their goal is to teach students technical skills in engineering, designing, and programming. According to Philip Wang, a FIRST Tech member, the club has a strange fascination with oranges. 

French Club

French Club meets after school once a month to learn more about the French language and culture. Each meeting, members discuss a different French theme and play games related to that theme.

Fresh Faces

Fresh Faces is a club that fosters kindness in welcoming new students and freshmen into Centennial. They meet once a month and focus on introducing new students to the school by showing them around, talking to them, and being a friend.

Girl Up Foundation

Girl Up Foundation is a club that aims to support and promote the health of girls in developing countries, empower young women to change the world, stand up for one another, and promote equity and feminism. Members attend biweekly informative meetings that highlight global and domestic issues as well as participate in fundraisers, activism, and a yearly summit.

Heartwise

The HeartWise Project is a student-led service organization that aims to bring joy to seniors through virtual activities. Members record videos of their talents (including music performances, arts & crafts tutorials, read-alouds, and more), which are shared with senior centers around the country to brighten up residents’ days. Members also have the opportunity to form personal connections with seniors through one-on-one phone calls.

Helping Hands

Helping Hands is a service club whose mission is to engage students with participation in service events that will help impoverished children around the globe. Club activities include engaging as Penpals with COVID-19 patients and doctors and virtually reading to elementary school children and becoming learning support buddies with them.

Horizon

Horizon is a community service club whose members volunteer with many locals in the community.  Members help staff events, raise money, and collect items for homeless shelters/food drives, as well as attend meetings every Thursday after school via Google meet. 

It’s Academic

It’s Academic welcomes any students and provides many teaching, competing, and leadership opportunities. The club meets every Tuesday at 3:15pm for ninety minutes of practice tournaments. Some members compete on television or in virtual tournaments, either after school or on weekends, while others focus on being teachers, mentors, and moderators. These students meet after the high school practice on Tuesdays to train over one hundred elementary students and on Thursday afternoons for eighty middle school students. This represents a service learning opportunity. Some students embrace leadership roles, dealing with outreach, publicity, or website design. All the students are involved with running tournaments at school for up to 1000 students in non-pandemic times. The club is planning to attend national tournaments in person or virtually in the spring. 

Lines of Love

Lines of Love is a mental health club that brings mental health support to students at Centennial. The club meets biweekly on Tuesdays at 3:15pm. They raise awareness by creating homemade bracelets. The bracelets are both a symbol for support and a reminder that no one is alone when struggling with mental health. They hope that the bracelets will provide a solace and gentle pathway to helpful supportive resources. The club provides an outlet for students to express themselves freely via a Sticky Note Board. The club hands out sticky notes for students to draw and write an insightful quote on encouragement, which they can then stick on the Sticky Note Board. Lines of Love continues to create opportunities for students to destress and find resources available about mental health. They are currently seeking new members to help promote mental health awareness! 

Maryland Voices

Maryland Voices is a student led publication of creative nonfiction based in Maryland. This publication allows students to share their true stories in a creative way. The club originates from a 9/11 project, which earned reactions from students state-wide. In 2009, Maryland Voices suffered a sharp decrease in student editors. However, they were able to revive the publication and last year published Volume X. They are currently working on Volume XI and are now accepting submissions until December 31, 2020. You can read more about the club here if you are interested in submitting a creative nonfiction writing piece in their publication.

Paper Bridges

Intended to bring some joy to those who might otherwise feel alone, the Centennial Paperbridges is just one of hundreds of chapters around the country. Paper Bridges pairs high school students with children in orphanages around the world. The partners become pen pals, and meetings are dedicated to creating letters for the children abroad. During virtual learning, meetings are every other Thursday at 3:30.

Red Cross

Red Cross helps the American Red Cross provide compassionate care and help to those in need. During meetings, club members focus on service-oriented activities. In an in-person environment, these activities would include making sandwiches for Grass Roots and blankets for homeless shelters, writing thank you cards for veterans, giving presentations about natural disaster preparedness at Centennial Lane Elementary School, and organizing an annual Centennial Blood Drive. Members also plan and host fundraising events that go toward raising money for the OEC flooding. Anyone who wishes to get involved is welcome.

Scholars Leadership Program 

Scholars Leadership Program is an honors program for female students in grades 10-12 with a cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.0 or higher. The club seeks to promote continued academic excellence. Members work to develop leadership skills by participating in workshop presentations, projects, and community service.

Science Olympiad 

Science Olympiad club strives to provide students with opportunities to further explore different aspects of science, ranging from biology to circuitry. Some members of the club use this knowledge to compete in national STEM competitions. Members are partnered up, and during meetings they coordinate with their partners on resources and notes, as well as study and practice for any upcoming events. Science Olympiad allows students to work within a challenging and competitive STEM environment while also forming friendships and making memories with others that share the same interests. 

Sexuality and Gender Alliance

SAGA is a safe space for students of all genders and sexualities to be themselves. Meetings provide opportunities for teenagers to meet new friends who will accept them for who they are as well as opportunities for members to work together to advance their cause; encourage others to support all genders and sexualities and educate the community about the realities of being LGBTQ+.

She’s the First 

She’s the First fights for girls’ rights to choose their own future. They fundraise to get girls around the world a proper education. It costs about $400 for one girl to go to a formal school for a year, which has left 130 million out of school. The club is run by President Naini Kadabha and Vice President Odera Ohuruogu, and is sponsored by Michelle McKinnon.

Smash Club

Smash Club is about giving students an opportunity to destress while having an opportunity to play a game that many enjoy, Super Smash Bros. The club is currently run by Connor Pymm and sponsored by Daleth Sendin.

Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers

The Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers is devoted to supporting Hispanic students in STEM and encouraging them through mentorships and scholarships. Co-founded by Kevin Salazar and Ana Cunningham and sponsored by Lori Griffiths, SHPE is a nonprofit led by CEO Raquel Tamez. 

Speech and Debate

Centennial Speech and Debate is a student-run club that promotes the mastery of the art of oration and its facets of persuasion. The club is sponsored by  Michelle Flynn and the president is Aditya Balasubramanian. Students are presented with a wide variety of events to choose from to demonstrate their oratory prowess. With events ranging from Impromptu speaking to creating your own ten-minute narrative, there is an event for everyone. Meetings are every Wednesday from 3:30-4:30pm (the code is chs-SpeechDebate). Join anytime to be part of the Eagles Speech and Debate family — everyone is welcome! 

Table Tennis Club

Table Tennis Club is about allowing students with either existing table tennis skills or an interest in learning table tennis to play ping pong with their friends and destress from the school day. Currently, it is only Connor Pymm and Jarrett Emery (teacher sponsor) who do anything from the administrative side of club activities.

Ultimate Frisbee Club

Ultimate Frisbee Club meets once a week in the Centennial athletic fields, weather permitting (40° or better). The club loves to encourage good sportsmanship and teamwork. Any CHS student can show up to a meeting and get right into playing. You don’t even need to be committed to come every week, just be committed to encouraging everyone. On this year’s board is Susie Park (President), Dylan Davies (Public Relations), Ben Hobson (Team Manager), and Michael Hobson (teacher sponsor). 

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