By Jolene Martinez

If you ask students to name the best event of the school year, most will agree it’s Showdown — the one time all four grades compete for a trophy and generate enthusiasm to set the school up for a great year.

“Showdown is so successful because it’s a tradition that feels like a part of the CV experience,” said Robert Sutterer, adviser of student government, which organizes the popular event.

Showdown is a week-long series of activities in which students celebrate Castle View spirit with a variety of events. It kicked off Sept. 8 with a the first of five spirit days and culminates Sept. 12 with Showdown, a rocking, rolling pep rally and competition.

The first Showdown took place in 2008, two years after CV first opened. The idea originated at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch. There, it is called Field Day and staff and teachers do most of the planning and work, Academic Dean Ryan Hollingshead said. Hollingshead, who helped open CVHS, had experienced the event when he was a social studies  teacher at ThunderRidge for five years. He thought it would be a great way to introduce tradition and spirit to Castle View, which he noticed was lacking in those early days.

“The first year of Showdown was the best because we were craving tradition so bad,” Hollingshead said.

Sutterer remembers that first showdown. He recalls walking into the spacious gym with some student government kids. Once he heard the noise and energy from the roaring crowds of grade levels, he knew this was going to work out fine.

“It was a risk,” Sutterer said. “Either this was going to be our biggest failure or we were going to look ridiculous.”

It was, everyone agreed, a success.

One big difference from the event at ThunderRidge is that students — not teachers — are responsible for organizing Showdown.

This year promises to be just as exciting. With a school population reaching almost 2,000 students, connection and school spirit must be kept, said Hollingshead.

“Homecoming is about the football game and the dance, but Showdown is about everyone’s pride in their advisement, their class and their school,” said Hollingshead.

Junior Ben Sherman agreed. “We can compete with other grades,” he said, “and we have a sense of nationalism in our school.”