On Friday, Sept. 16 on Memorial Field at West Chicago Community High School, Pep Club declared seniors Aidan Murrin and Anna Lesny Homecoming King and Queen.

Voting for the Homecoming Court started on Sept. 6 via a Google Form ballot sent to every senior den teacher and then posted on Google Classroom for the students. Normally, the five boys and five girls who received the most votes would be picked to be on the Homecoming Court; however, this year, there was a tie for fifth place among the boys. As a result, six boys were selected to be on the Homecoming Court, including seniors Fabian Barrios, Diego Martinez, Gabriel Shade, Diego Avalos, Emiliano Lopez, and Murrin.

Meanwhile, four additional girls were also nominated to the 2022 Homecoming Court: seniors Audrey Dolor, Daisy Garcia, Leslie Perez and Chanel VerVynck.

Although the votes were cast two weeks prior to the main event, the Homecoming King and Queen were not revealed until the end of the pep assembly at Memorial Field on Sept. 16. 

“I know both of the students, so it was very hard to pretend like I didn’t know and I have the queen in class. So it was really hard to pretend like I have no idea who it is. But yeah, I was really happy for them,” said Spanish teacher and Pep Club adviser Elizabeth Mastroianni.

There was, however, some controversy this year as to the way in which voting was conducted. Seniors were only allowed to vote once, during which time they submitted the name of a person they would like on the Homecoming Court. Many believed they should have had the opportunity to vote again once the nominations were set.

Nonetheless, being a part of the Homecoming Court is often considered a memorable experience for all candidates, but especially for the King and Queen.

“They get to brag about it for the rest of their lives if they want to. They [got] to ride around in a sweet convertible during the parade on Friday. So that’s kind of fun,” said English teacher and Pep Club adviser Dave Jennings.

The Full Court

Prior to the pep assembly announcement, the Chronicle reached out to all of the candidates to learn more. In keeping with the Candy Land theme, each respondent was asked to share their favorite childhood games.

UNO fan Murrin planned to wear a white button-up shirt with a spotted blue tie to the dance, which he attended with Lesny, his girlfriend of several years. Lesny, who is “a god” when it comes to playing Jenga, wore a blue dress.

Lopez, one of WEGO’s top wrestlers, wore black attire on Saturday, and attended the dance with senior Alyssa Elizondo. Lopez’s favorite childhood game was Sharks and Minnows.

Shade dressed in all-black for the dance and was accompanied by senior Jenna Zeitoun. As a kid, this Libra “was goated at Roblox.”

Dolor, a Leo, went to Homecoming with her girlfriend, and wore black. Dolor confessed to cheating at Heads Up, Seven Up as a child because “it was fun.”

A red button-up shirt with black dress pants was Garcia’s chosen outfit. She remembered playing “Super Mario Bros on the Wii because me and my cousins would play it all the time and it was the game that made us bond and get closer.”

Perez, a Sagittarius, attended Homecoming with a friend group. Her favorite game, Mario Kart, was one “you could play with multiple people at once.” 

For VerVynck, who went to the dance with friends as well, Scattergories is a game that “brings back real good times with my family.”

The Chronicle reached out to Avalos, Barrios and Martinez, but received no response.