Friday night football games, sparkly dresses, and spirit week marked the beginning of Homecoming. Although the dance theme may change and the spirit week can range from pajama day to tropical days, one tradition always remains throughout the years: Homecoming Court.
Every year, girls across the school create posters and encourage friends and fellow students to vote their name in hopes of being on court or earning the title of homecoming queen.
Catelyn Conover, a senior this year, has never run for court before, but decided to campaign for fun this year.
“Part of me just wanted to run for fun and say that I did it,” said Conover.
This time-honored tradition isn’t always as easy as it may appear. Girls on court must not only find an escort, but also purchase a dress in their assigned color, practice for their assembly and homecoming game walk while also working to gain the votes of the rest of the student body.
“My favorite part of running was hanging out with all the girls while getting ready and during the game. There were some fun girl-to-girl moments that you don’t always experience and it felt like a community,” Conover said.
Conover is very heavily involved in all things choir at school. She is a part of not only Honor Choir, but also Chamber Choir, Acapella and Concert Choir. The force that is the entire Choir department combined with the various other programs at school she’s apart of, created a plethora of support that led to her gaining enough votes for queen.
“I didn’t have much faith that I was going to get queen but I thought there was a chance because I had the performing arts standing behind me throughout the whole process,” Conover said.
Last year, Keke Ketonou was crowned as homecoming queen and became the first person of color to be crowned as queen at Kickapoo. Although she may have graduated, she returned to pass her title and crown onto Conover.
“A few years ago I thought of how cool it would be to be on court but I never ran because I felt like there was a standard but last year, Keke broke that mold and helped me realize that the mold could be broken,” Conover said.
Conover has proven to be a force within our student body and has helped break the long-running stereotype of needing to be white just to be on the court or even become queen. Along with Ketonou, Conover has helped make history and we look forward to seeing how she continues to represent the school.
