Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Each year, a group of eight seniors, four boys and four girls, work to gather votes in the hope of winning the title of Homecoming King or Queen respectively. However, in recent years, the AHS Student Council has given nominees a chance to raise votes in a new way — donations of canned and boxed goods.
“Five years ago, the number of homecoming votes kept getting smaller and smaller each year, and it didn't seem right to crown a king and queen when less than a fourth of the school was voting,” student council adviser Chad Cooke said. “So, student council thought we should try to make some good out of this tradition and leave a positive impact on our community.”
The goods, which end up going to Community Caring Center, allow for students and families to help contribute to giving back to the greater Azle population.
“I'm more focused on the collections, even if they don't bring me to win,” Saez said. “I just want to be able to have these to give to our Community Caring Center in order to provide them with enough to continue providing for the people here in Azle.”
The donations can come from anyone in the community and aren’t restricted to just the high school students. These donations are collected throughout the month of September and are then tallied and comprise 10% of the total vote for the king and queen.
“It started with my grandparents being like ‘Oh my gosh, you're on the court, we're gonna go donate 90 cans for you,’” queen nominee Brooklyn Young said. “The donations are mostly from family and friends I’ve made through church or outside of school. They can't directly vote for me, but they still want me to win, so they donate lots of canned beans.”
The nominees can make posters and social media posts to encourage students not only to vote for them, as is traditional homecoming fashion, but also to donate these goods by simply placing them on the nominee’s designated square in front of the library.
“I have flyers up at two of my family's businesses and I'm collecting donations over there,” king nominee Jayden Saez said. “I also have social media flyers out and I’m thinking of making some more and asking around local businesses to put them up.”
In addition to the canned and boxed goods, the homecoming flashback court — composed of six AHS staff members — raises money that student council will donate to the American Cancer Society, in hope of winning the Flashback Queen or King titles all while gathering funds to support people less fortunate than them.
“A lot of my classes are competitive, so we have a contest going among them to see who can raise the most money,” flashback nominee Kristen Cook said. “My dad has cancer, so I really like that the money is going toward a good cause, and I will continue to encourage my students to donate if they can.”
