The long-awaited time has come to reveal the Homecoming King and Queen of Santiago High School. Tina Ngo and Ryan Kim were jubilantly crowned royalty at Friday’s Homecoming football game, and their legacy will live on to the next generations of Santiago High School. But as you know, great power comes with great responsibility, so what went on behind the scenes of becoming Homecoming King and Queen of Santiago?
Homecoming King and Queen
Tina Ngo is the editor-in-chief and head publicist of journalism at Santiago High School and teaches children from Vietnam English; she plans on becoming a journalist in the future. ¨ Campaigning took up so much of my time I stayed on campus a lot of the days to target underclassmen. I dedicated a lot of time after school to making posters and Campaigning.¨ Running for Homecoming royalty was not easy, but Tina handled it as a queen should– with hard work and diligence.
Ryan Kim has been on the baseball team for four years and plans on majoring in biology in college. He reveals his dedication to being crowned King, ¨ Campaigning took a long time because of all the posters we had to make. I also approached everyone I saw and asked them to vote for me. But gladly, Ngo and Kim had a few people on their side to help them throughout this long and complicated process.
¨I’d like to shout out my journalism class; they helped to keep me sane, my little brother, and all my best friends that allowed me to the max!¨ – Tina Ngo
¨I’d like to shout out the baseball guys for helping me campaign, Tina’s friends, and my AP Psych table group that helped me with everything; I appreciate them all.¨- Ryan Kim
What made these two want to run for Homecoming King and Queen in the first place?
“I’ve always dreamed of being here one day, and it’s crazy to think it has become a reality. I knew since Sophomore year that I was going to run for Homecoming Queen, and that motivation never died down. I knew it’d be a fun experience, and I could potentially ride in a carriage, but it was a retro car instead, so you win some, you lose some.¨ – Tina Ngo
¨I ran because the baseball guys told me I had a good chance to win cause I was likable, so I just tried to look where I ended up. You only live once, so why not get the full high school experience? I mostly ran for fun until I got to court.¨ – Ryan Kim
Tina ran to win while Ryan ran for fun, which I believe to be a perfect Homecoming King & Queen ¨I ran with Tina because she is very social and smart, so I thought it’d be a good match¨, and so it was.
Homecoming Court
It is time to spotlight the eight others who made it to court.
Sophia Garcia and Jared Alano admit that they have been “best friends for the longest time “and that it has been their dream to run, explaining why they paired together.
Sophia Garcia is a member of ASB, known as the infamous, ¨Shark TV Girl¨, as head of Santiago’s digital student broadcast. She started her non-profit organization for underprivileged Latino youth and attended Film school, hoping to become a film director. Jared Alano is a member of Unity and an officer of several other clubs, such as Speech and Debate, Fasa, and many more. He wishes to explore his interest in building a non-profit organization after attending college for business administration. This gorgeous match makes an honorable mention to the people who brought them to court:
My cousin, Chess, helped me with my posters and has done so much for me; I love her.¨ -Jared Alano
My mom got me through everything; we stayed up late the night before, and she has been very encouraging. I’d like to shout out the DSA commissioner as well, Bella; she is one of my best friends and has been my girl throughout all of this.¨- Sophia Garcia
The next two runner-ups, Sara Qadri and Najib Kakos, confess,¨We decided to run together because we’re homies and have the same friends.¨
Najib realistically just plans to ¨continue being a goat into his later life¨, and Sara Qadri is a part of speech and debate, as well as FBLA, and lives an adventurous life as her hobbies include cliff-jumping, parasailing, and snowboarding—no wonder these two decided to run for homecoming king and queen.
My favorite campaigning experience was being lifted in a chair across campus.¨- Najib Kakos
Mine must have been filming a rap video with 4000 views.¨- Sara Qadri
Clearly, making it into court comes with many other memorable experiences. What made these two want to run in the first place?
¨I honestly just saw an opportunity to have fun.¨- Najib Kakos
It was seeing those high school movies as a kid– who wouldn’t want to be up there doing that?¨ – Sara Qadri
Josselyn Palacios and David Gamez, two lovable competitors, reveal they ran together. They are great friends¨, elaborating on how it just ¨worked out because they have a class together.¨
David Gamez regards himself as a ¨pretty average student at Santiago¨, the future is unclear, but he wants ¨to become a dentist.¨ Josselyn Palacios has been involved in varsity sports and is a captain of her team; she is a co-president of a club and part of various other clubs, planning to attend a four-year university toward a pre-med path.
Their experiences in running were also filled with strange and amusing yet unforgettable memories.
¨My favorite experience was meeting my crazy fan who has like 7 of my posters.¨ – David Gamez
Mine would be getting many text messages from my favorite freshman and sophomore telling me that they told everyone to vote for me; I love y’all.¨ – Josselyn Palacios
Last but certainly not least, Kristen Hazley and Finn Brennan admit that they ran with each other for the ¨athletic appeal¨, seeming as though they are both primary members of their teams at school.
Kristen is currently captain of the hip-hop team, a BSU member, and a part of our school paper. She plans to attend Clark Atlanta University, where she desires to continue her journalism career. Finn Brennan is a three-year varsity football player and hopes to go to college to study commercial real estate and earn a business degree.
¨My favorite campaigning experience would have to have been having everyone take pictures with my flyers.¨ – Kristen Hazley
Words of Advice from Homecoming King & Queen
That being said, there is no better way to end this article than by passing on a few words of advice to next year’s potential nominees:
Some of my biggest tips that I feel made my chances of winning slightly higher were that I never stopped campaigning, I continued to make funny flyers, and I let go of what the outcome might have been. Gear your campaign towards everyone, not just people you know; making a laugh through your posters and flyers is how many people will vote for you. Just have fun because being on the court was the best experience ever, and you don’t care too much if you win or not.¨ – Tina Ngo
Target the underclassmen and make sure you focus on specific sports teams.¨”- Ryan Kim
Overall, every nominee was an admirable one who was deserving of being Homecoming royalty. We congratulate Tina Ngo and Ryan Kim and willingly accept them as our King and Queen. Now, we must wait and see who will descend their throne. Until next year!
