Order! Order in the court! Homecoming was September 9, and we were wondering, did you make time to elect your homecoming king and queen? If you didn’t, did you know that this year, everyone at North Platte High School was allowed to elect.
“I was extremely excited, and glad to hear my peers would like me to be one of the seniors to represent the school,” said senior Kort Steele when he recieved news that he would be a member of this year’s homecoming court. Sponsor Amy Smith said, “We had 26 girls and 20 boys to choose from.” It was narrowed down to 5 girls and 5 guys each.
The senior female nominees were Soha Vaziri, Sidney Brinker, Alyssa Waits, Sydney Patterson and Syble Heffernan. The senior male nominees were Zak Folchert, Trevon Weaver, Kort Steele, Will Phillips and Dominic Martinez. Vaziri said, “When I found out I was a nominee, I was really flattered, but excited to represent my class.” Vaziri summed up how the court felt about knowing they were nominated to represent the school.
This year, there was a change in the way students were nominated. In previous years, teachers chose the students, then the seniors decided who would be on the court. This year, it was an open vote to all students and teachers. “I really liked the fact that students had more say in the process,” said Folchert. “I think the recommendations could have been a little more straight forward, but overall I think it was way more democratic.”
The only drawback to this voting system was that it wasn’t always easy for students to access. “The only downturn of the selecting was the online voting. I imagine only a small portion of our class voted,” said Martinez. “The only time I voted was when a friend reminded me. I probably would’ve forgot about it otherwise. Also, the only time I had time to vote was during class when I should’ve been working.”
Ultimately, Folchert and Vaziri were crowned king and queen during half time at the varsity football game against Kearney.