By Renata Terrazzan

The 2016-2017 Homecoming Court was announced a week prior to homecoming weekend and Homecoming King and Queen were announced during the pep assembly on October 7.  It was filled with kids from a variety of backgrounds and interests that were all voted on by their peers.

At the end of the Pep Assembly, each senior Homecoming Court couple was called down and they walked to the middle of the gym where the Rose Ceremony happened. Each senior Homecoming Court pair received a rose, and the one who opened the red rose, is the Homecoming King and Queen. This year, our royal couple was in fact real life couple, Parker Cole and Danielle Hoef. “When I won, I felt so happy and loved by my grade hearing them all cheering me on,” Hoef said

Before the pep assembly, the entire Homecoming Court was announced over the morning announcements prior to the assembly. The Senior Court: Amanda Ling escorted by Christian Bashi, Carley Stevenson escorted by Matthew Ford, Danielle Hoef escorted by Parker Cole. The Junior Court: Mion Weldon escorted by Logan Michelini, Lizzie Raider escorted by Christopher Hamama. The Sophomore Court: Isabel Cullung escorted by Braden Jascoe, Paige Meyer escorted by Reid Oblak. The Freshmen Court: Selena Romaya escorted by Blake Sadik, Ariana Jordan escorted by Donivan Dickerson.

Besides the King and Queen being announced, the Pep Assembly also had each of the nominees and their partner dress up. The girls were all dolled up in beautiful short dresses, and the boys were decked out in button up shirts and tuxedos. The court sat up on a platform during the assembly, watching the choir sing the national anthem and alma mater, the JV and varsity cheer routines, and the JV and varsity Poms dance.

The Court’s time to shine was that night. First, around 5 p.m., the court piled into convertibles and were driven around for the Homecoming Parade. Then, during halftime at the Homecoming Game, each couple was announced, along with a list of the activities and interests of each member. Then, each pair strutted down the field arm in arm with their partner. Each of them did a special little pose that makes it that much more exciting “It was so great to have everyone cheering and it was even better that I could walk with Amanda,” said Bashi.

The nomination process happened a few weeks before Homecoming. Each student received a slip of paper in which they nominate two girls and two boys from their class. It could be anyone they choose. “We [the student council] collect these slips and each name is taken into consideration. We then tally up the three boys and three girls from each class that got the most nominations,” said junior Olivia Ross about the process.