By Ben Gibbons
Staff Writer
Seniors Michai Clinton and Danielle Gonzalez joined Costa’s line of royalty as they were crowned homecoming king and queen at the homecoming football game on Friday night. Their hard work payed off after challenging games, crazy costumes, dancing at the pep rally and a parody movie based on The Office.
The king and queen were voted on prior to the football game by senior students. Clinton and Gonzalez were elected out of a group of 12 princes and princesses who were paired up to compete in a number of lunchtime games, wear couple costumes, and coordinate and perform a dance at the pep rally.
“Seeing my photo projected on the screen and hearing Dr. Dale declare me as the queen was surreal,” Gonzalez said. “It was such an honor just to be listed on the ballot.”
During halftime of the homecoming football game, members of the court rode around the track in Mustang convertibles while a commentator gave a brief description of each candidate’s involvements at Costa and extracurricular activities. Following this, the court’s movie was played for the audience and the winners were announced.
“Dressing up in different costumes everyday, spending hours practicing our routine every night, and playing a variety of competitive homecoming games all added to the excitement of this unforgettable week,” Clinton said. “The whole experience almost felt too good to be true.”
Click here for more information about the ASB Homecoming Week.
Clinton was nominated by Science Olympiad, where he serves as the Biology Lead. As the Biology Lead he is responsible for helping club members with events related to life sciences during their annual Science Olympiad competition.
“I love my role in the club so much that I decided to spend 12 weeks of my entire summer conducting biomedical research prior to my senior year,” Clinton said. “Ultimately, Science Olympiad has greatly influenced my Costa experience and my decision to major in biology in college.”
Aside from Science Olympiad, Clinton is the treasurer of the Black Scholars Union, a saxophonist in the school band and a three year member of Costa’s soccer team.
“It was an unforgettable experience to be named homecoming king,” Clinton said. “I remember feeling pure joy when my name was called in front of thousands of people.”
Gonzales was nominated through the club she founded called “Hooked on Books”. She serves as the president in her club where members read and discuss novels that Gonzales feels are prominent in teenage life. Through this club, Gonzalez is able to spread her love for books by sharing, discussing, and analyzing these books with fellow students, Gonzalez said.
“My club Hooked on Books has not only allowed me to do what I love most but also has given me a platform to share my passion for books and ignite one in my fellow students,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez is also captain of the Costa Girl’s Swim Team. She is also a huge spirit enthusiast as she can be found at all the school dances and can be seen decked out in green and gold at all the Costa football games, Gonzalez said.
“I am so incredibly grateful and overwhelmed by the love of my classmates,” Gonzalez said. “Their support means the world to me.”
The homecoming court consisted of six princesses and six princes who were nominated by a Costa organization or club and were voted on by junior and senior students. The court members included princesses Junko Cohn, Darby Dayton, Kalea Frank, Danielle Gonzalez, Delaney Kluth and Delaney Whittet and princes Nico Brunstein, Michai Clinton, Adam Enomoto, Duke Mahr, Max Taylor and Hogan Webb. The princesses and princes were then placed into pairs for the daily dress up themes and competitions.
Click here for stats about the homecoming football game against Morningside.
“It was really fun getting really close with everyone and getting to meet people I didn’t really know before,” Taylor said. “Some of us were not really friends at the beginning, but after all of the time we spent together and all of the memories we all became close.”
Over the past week, members of the homecoming court participated in a number of games during lunch where couples competed against each other and dressed up according to different daily themes. The court also created a movie where each candidate dressed up and acted as a character from the television series, The Office. The video incorporated jokes from The Office, while also including information about Costa and the students’ activities.
“My favorite moment was definitely when I dressed up as Nicki Minaj on the first dress up day,” Clinton said. “I never thought that one day I would be wearing a pink wig with a baton in my hand and my boxers showing!”
The court members danced at the pep rally after 4th period on Friday in front of the entire school. They endured a stressful week of perfecting their performance spending many hours learning and practicing dance moves, Gonzalez said.
“The court and I practiced for hours to perfect our dance and stayed at Costa as late as 11:30!” Gonzalez said. “Seeing everything come together at the pep rally was the most rewarding feeling ever.”
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