The Associated Student Body (ASB) unveiled Homecoming royalty during an assembly in the gym after second period today.
Seniors Ashley Klippert and Samantha Garcia-Perez acted as the emcees for coronation. Students were nominated for Homecoming court by teachers, advisers and coaches who feel they’ve gone “above and beyond” this school year.
Sophomore Ashlee Putrick performed the National Anthem for the school.
As the orchestra played in the background, Klippert and Garcia-Perez announced the court finalists by class and by pair, listing facts and quotes describing each individual. Drama teacher Jeannie Brzovic and on-time graduation coordinator Jose Aguiniga escorted the finalists as they walked down the carpet.
Each pair, one male and one female, linked arms and entered the gym. Halfway into the gym, the pair split to present a rose to a family member in the audience, then reconvened for a personalized handshake before accompanying each other back to sit among the other nominees in an area surrounded by lights.
Three boys and three girls were nominated in the freshman, sophomore and junior classes while six boys and six girls were nominated in the senior class.
Klippert and Garcia-Perez introduced the freshmen court nominees first. Vivian Tran and Markus Nelson took the spotlight and closed with their own take of a secret handshake. Christian Diaz and Allison Reyes-Danielle then followed suit, performing a full body handshake with hip bumps and feet. To change it up, Mackellan Shreck and Lydia Gesese presented a basketball themed handshake.
The sophomore court nominees started off with Kaylee Wagner and Luka Grant who featured Wagner in a twirl during their handshake. Taking a different approach, Jude Armstrong and Mazie Castagnetta used their feet instead of their hands. Afterward, Ciara Laney and Marck Primavera spotlighted a twirl from each other.
Then, the juniors opened with Abbi Johnson and Brandon Bach who showed off some dance moves before exiting. After Andy Nguyen presented his rose to his mom and kissed her forehead, he and Emma Agricola demonstrated a handshake full of punches. Then, Jesse Martineau and Sonja Eggebraaten finished with a brief handshake.
Lastly, the six senior pairs were announced. Bri Houtman and Corey Takeya set out into the audience with Takeya giving his rose to his mom and announcing, “I love my momma!” Next to make their grand entrance was Rosie Lee and Eugene Seubert who engaged in an over-the-head handshake. Sam Johnson and Candace Disney kept a simple handshake, ending with a tap on their heads.
Making their way through, Sammy Ruiz and Diego Aguiniga set out and bent over to perform their handshake. Julia Hart and Chase Alberts put on a show with a game of rock, paper, scissors. Keegan Grayson and Jasmine Zenk concluded the introductions with their own, which ended with a short handshake.
Former ASB President and 2017 MTHS graduate Hani Nakkour returned to the school to formally crown the winners.
Vivian Tran and Leo Diaz won freshman homecoming royalty, with Nakkour accidentally putting the wrong sash on the two.
Luka Grant and Ciara Laney took the vote for sophomore homecoming royalty.
Abbi Johnson and Andy Nguyen stole the crown for the junior class.
Bri Houtman and Chase Alberts were honored with second Homecoming Princess and Prince while Sammy Ruiz and Diego Aguiniga were announced first Homecoming Princess and Prince. The 2017 Homecoming King and Queen were revealed as Corey Takeya and Candace Disney.
Fall sports captains came to the stage to bring presents to the king and queen. Following the ceremony, the Homecoming court was dismissed first from the assembly as the nominees created a tunnel for the royalty to run through.
Though Disney was not expecting to win, she felt “shook” about being declared Homecoming Queen and credits it to having supportive friends.
“I’m appreciative of the people at our school and [who] voted for me and everyone was just so sweet about it,” she said. “I hope [being crowned] says that people view me as someone who’s kind and outgoing and just someone that they can go to, a leadership kind of role.”
Similarly, Takeya had “disbelief, shock, excitement [and] a little bit of relief” once the titles were announced.
“I didn’t really expect to win today. There’s a lot of good candidates, a lot of good choices to win. When they called my name, I was a bit surprised, but excited,” Takeya said.
He feels he earned the honor of Homecoming King due to playing a more active role in the school and community.
“The past two years I got a lot more involved with things around school and I think that kind of got my name out there a bit more,” he said. “Freshman, sophomore year, not a lot of people knew me because I didn’t get involved in a lot of activities.”
Above all, Takeya is thankful for being surrounded by supportive people and for the opportunity to hold the title of Homecoming King.
“I don’t think being Homecoming King is something that’s going to define me. I think it means that I have a lot of support from my friends and peers,” Takeya said. “It means a lot for their support and I’m very grateful for all the friends and peers around me.”
