Kentlake students and staff had much to celebrate at its pep assembly Thursday afternoon.

It wasn’t just an opportunity to pump up the school community for the football showdown later in the evening between Kentlake and Kentwood at French Field.

During the assembly the school received the big check for $100,000 which Kentlake won in State Farm’s Celebrate My Drive event in September.

In order to win the grant, the school needed significant community support in the form of voting. Kentlake was one of 14 schools in the country to win this grant.

Additionally, as part of the Breast Cancer Awareness events Kentlake Leadership students have organized this week, cancer survivors from the staff talked about their experiences battling the disease.

And if that were’t enough, girls basketball coach and science teacher Scott Simmons was recognized by the school as well as Mountain View Fire and Rescue for his quick action when a small fire broke out at school.

According to information provided by Mountain View Fire spokesman Tim Perciful, Simmons used a portable fire extinguisher to put out a small fire near Kentlake High School during the dry weather we had a few weeks ago.Simmons was recognized with an extinguisher painted gold, a certification from Chief Greg Smith and recognition by the department which came along with a visit from Sparky the Fire Dog, the department’s mascot.

Plus there was recognition for fall sports athletes by boys basketball coach Godric Drake, who is also a paraeducator at Kentlake.

Look for a column by Kentlake Principal Joe Potts in the Nov. 2 issue of the Reporter which will discuss in more detail what the school could do with the State Farm grant.