Homecoming, no matter the school, is an event made up of traditions. Here at Granada, a large part of homecoming is skit and preskit, however, for many, homecoming royalty is an equally important event that occurs around this time of year. Senior year particularly stands out for students who desire to become homecoming royalty as the senior class is the only class that can be part of the most honorable homecoming royalty, as opposed to the younger grades who have an equally as special yet less extravagant experience. Seniors experience an especially remarkable homecoming royalty experience, compared to the Juniors and lower classmen.
Traditionally, there are nominees for homecoming court, who are voted for and announced about two weeks before homecoming itself. The following week, students are then able to vote for specific members of the homecoming court. Both of these polls are taken on the 5Star app, where students are able to easily find any voting poll or survey throughout the school year. After voting closes, two lucky nominees will then be named King and Queen. Typically, the King is named at the homecoming rally held the Friday before the dance, while the homecoming Queen is announced at the football game. This year, the rally will be held at night, as there is no school on October 6th, the day before the homecoming dance. The announcement of the Homecoming Queen is known to be extravagant and extra special for these nominees. The Queen nominees are paraded around the track and accompanied by their fathers. This makes this announcement even more outstanding for these nominees.
This tradition makes Homecoming Royalty even more important to those who desire to be named King and Queen. This experience is particularly significant for the Homecoming Queen nominees as Leadership works to ensure the spotlight is on the nominees during halftime. For decades, this has been the typical layout of events for deciding homecoming royalty. This tradition has become more and more extravagant throughout the years and has become a highlight of homecoming for many. This homecoming, the nominees include Ariana Xenakis, Aiden Clarin, Prisha Sheth, Katy Canaan, Tanner Gray, Aj Hattaway, Harriet Howarth, Ashton McGrail, Grady Phillips, and Parker Warner.
This year, homecoming royalty will continue, however, Leadership has changed select aspects of the experience in order to make the event and process more inclusive. One of the first changes in this tradition began at the very beginning of the voting process, “…rather than separating students by gender, a student could nominate up to six or ten seniors to a single ballot.” (Prisha Sheth, ℅ 2024 nominee). Previously, the voting ballot was separated into a girls’ ballot and a boys’ ballot, however, as an attempt to make the voting process inclusive of everyone and exclude the use of any labels, the ballot was combined to make one large ballot.
Additionally, as opposed to the King being the top-voted boy in the Senior class, and the top-voted girl being named the Queen, the new rules go against any gender title, and the new process, “…secures nomination positions for the top most voted students.” (Ariana Xenakis ℅ 2024 nominee). In its entirety, the new process completely eliminates any restriction towards any gender, allowing for a more inclusive royalty. Furthermore, one major change in this system is the timing of the royalty announcements. Prior to this year, royalty from grades 9-11 are announced at the rally the Friday before school starts. At this rally, the past Kings have been announced, however, this is changing this year. Because the winners are no longer separated by gender, both winners will be announced at the night rally. This night rally is something Granada has never done before, thus, “It makes it more challenging to get student involvement because many students have sports practices or other extracurricular activities that conflict with the time of the rally.” (Xenakis).
Nominees and Leadership students are slightly concerned about the timing of the rally and how it will affect the attendance, however, in order to encourage student involvement at the rally, there have been numerous social media posts, announcements, and posters throughout school advertising this event. This change in the timing of the rally not only affected the royalty but also the typical traditions of homecoming week. Though there are notable changes in royalty this year, the key components and excitement surrounding the event persist.
Despite these changes, the nominees seem to be very excited about their nominations. Prisha Sheth expresses her excitement as she explains that, “[She] is so grateful for the Granada community for their support and their nomination.” One of the aspects of the nomination she is most excited for is, “The queens’ room and sharing a special memory with the other amazing nominees.”
The queens’ room is an ongoing tradition at Granada where nominees are able to get ready for the announcement, take pictures, and overall share the experience with one another. Though the name of the room will be changed due to the gender implications, the experience itself will still continue to be relevant. Similarly, Ariana Xenakis is, “Super excited and thankful to be part of the homecoming court!” Lastly, Aiden Clarin is, “…excited and ready for the whole experience of being on Homecoming Court.”
It is clear that though these changes differ from tradition, the joy this event brings to Granada continues to be present. Overall, these changes promote the inclusivity of everyone at Granada and allow Granada to continue to work towards making the school a positive place for all students and staff.
