On Oct. 1, senior Brooke Harrington was crowned as the 2021 Homecoming queen. First runner up was senior Avery Burchfield and second runner up was senior Stevie Jones. 

Homecoming advisor Kathryn Curry said that a lot of work and planning goes into Homecoming week.

“Planning starts months ahead, and I usually start planning in May because then I’ll hopefully know the Homecoming date and that sets the week. I then search for a DJ that is available,” Curry said. “It is a lot of prepping to make sure packets are ready to give to the candidates. Then getting Games Night together, I meet with the committee, and they come up with the games. We finalize that and get the materials for the games. We have to make sure the crown and sash is ordered. The candidates also have posters, so we have to hang those up. It is a lot of work waiting up until the week of and event and the week before too.”

Harrington feels really happy to be crowned and mostly thanks her friends for the fun time she had.

“It was really stressful to get all the theme day outfits ready, but my group made it really fun. Some of my friends also ran too, so it was fun to see everybody get ready for everything all together,” Harrington said. 

While most students believe that winning queen means winning the popular vote, that isn’t the case. 

“It is a five part process. Popular vote is a section, games night, theme day checks, water contribution for the dance and the charity cans which are put out Monday-Wednesday during Homecoming week as well as at the dance and at Games Night,” Curry said. 

Curry wants the student population to know just how much goes into Homecoming. 

“Students should know that Homecoming is more than just a dance because I feel that students look forward to that the most. Also that it is not just a popularity contest, it is a lot more community based, and I don’t think the general population knows that it is so much more,” Curry said. 

The responsibilities of the Homecoming queen are to represent the school and community in a positive light, and Harrington explains she will be sure to do that. 

“I didn’t think I was going to win, so I was excited and surprised when I heard him [Daniel Harber] announce my name. Now that I have been selected as queen, I will make sure that for the rest of the year I am responsible for the title,” Harrington said. 

The most important part of Homecoming to Harrington is how all of the girls came together to run.

“I wouldn’t even say the winning part is what was important to me, just the togetherness of the senior class. All the senior girls running just brought us all together in a way,” Harrington said.

The Homecoming court voted and decided on this year’s charity being the Central Pennsylvania Autism Society. The court sent them a $1,000 donation.

“I think it is awesome how much money we raised because they obviously knew it was going towards the charity, but they got to pick the person that they put money in the can for,” Harrington said.