As they stood under the bright lights of the football stadium in hopes of hearing their names called, the Homecoming court could feel the adrenaline coursing through their veins. Cheers exploded throughout the stadium as both Albert Tang and Mia Heath were crowned Homecoming King and Queen of the 2023 school year. Both Tang and Heath believed that waiting to hear that name announced out of the loudspeaker was one of the most exhilarating experiences of their lives.
Senior Albert Tang is a member of the student government, the math team, science bowl, and science olympiad. Because of his participation in these clubs, he finds himself able to meet people from many different grades and form connections with a variety of people. To even be waiting on the field with the rest of the Homecoming court was one achievement, but being crowned Homecoming king was an even more exhilarating experience for Tang. Hearing his name called had him at a loss for words. Because of his participation in science bowl, Tang is trained to listen to syllables, so when he heard the first part of his name, he was in shock.
“I didn’t really know what to say, other than I was surprised. Through these clubs, I was able to meet so many different people, and that is probably what helped me become more well known,” Tang said.
Mia Heath had a similar experience to Tang upon hearing her name called through the stadium speakers. Although winning Homecoming Queen seems to be a solitary achievement, she believes that the most memorable moment of the night was feeling the support of her cheerleader teammates.
“I loved how the cheerleaders crowded around me and celebrated with me. That was a really special moment,” Heath said.
While being a class president, Heath is also a member of the cheer team and has participated in track and field all throughout high school. One of her favorite parts of Homecoming this year was dressing up for each day’s theme.
For other members of the student body, this year’s Homecoming week proved to be memorable as well. From the school half-day of outdoor activities to crowning our Homecoming king and queen, it’s safe to say that the student body had a successful Homecoming experience. Yet, none of the week’s success would have been possible without the substantial planning done by student government.
Planning the event was an extensive process. First, the student government focused on themes for the week, aiming to find ones that the Westminster community was interested in. The themes selected for this year were pajama day in conjunction with “anything but a backpack” day on Monday, celebrity day on Tuesday, rodeo day on Wednesday, and generations day on Thursday, culminating in a Barbie-Oppenheimer themed Homecoming Dance. To end the week off on a strong note, student government decided on a grade-based colors theme for Friday’s flag football games. Some creative costumes and accessories that students noted were junior Robert Kochensparger’s toilet for “anything but a backpack” day and sophomore Julia Stallworth’s Soulja Boy costume for celebrity day.
Many students also expressed that they thoroughly enjoyed the themes for each day. Sophomore Ruth Zemedhun said she enjoyed each day’s themes and loved seeing what everyone dressed up as.
“The co-chairs and student government did an incredible job coming up with Homecoming themes this year. I really liked seeing what everyone brought for anything but a backpack day,” Zemedhun stated.
The next thing the student government did to get ready for Homecoming was to host a fundraiser to support a chosen fundraiser. This year, senior co-chairs Phillips Moore and Ava Ramsey chose to support Audrey’s Angels, an organization created in support of senior Audrey DeShetler aiming to help fund childhood cancer research. Selling tickets at one dollar each, students and teachers at Westminster got a chance to choose which teacher they would like to be put in the dunk tank. This year, the options were Mr. Batchellor, Mr. Pullen, Mr. Pitts, and Rev. Charney, with Mr. Batchellor receiving the most votes..
Junior Mariam Mohammed thought that this fundraiser was a great way to combine Homecoming activities while still giving back and helping others.
“I enjoyed how the student government fundraised money for an organization in such an interactive way,” said Mohammed.
Finally, for the last day of Homecoming week, student government picked out activities for students to do after the schoolwide pep rally. Co-chairs Moore and Ramsey aimed to make sure that there was an activity that each student could find joy in.
“We made sure to have indoor options for students so everyone, even people that didn’t want to be outside, had something fun to do for that day,” said Ramsey.
This plan worked extremely well. Freshman Aleena Shash stated that she appreciated the inclusivity of what she could have fun doing at school that day.
“I really loved how there were activities both indoors and outdoors that people could participate in,” said Shash.
This Homecoming was an eventful week for nearly every student involved. In the end, this year’s Homecoming was certainly a success, creating fun memories and a wonderful celebration leading into Fall Break.
Edited by Anjini Naidu
