The Gibson Southern Student Council came together to host the annual Fall Homecoming crowning ceremony and dance for 2022 on Friday, Sept. 30. Before the football game, the Homecoming Court took their places and the results of the Homecoming royalty contest were announced.

Sophomore Patricia Long first announced freshman Jeremiah Mullennax as the prince, and the title of princess was given to freshman Tali Maurer. Both were surprised to win Homecoming Prince and Princess as freshmen. However, they were even more thankful to have the experience.

“It’s definitely an honor, and I’m very thankful for my peers and my classmates that picked me,” Maurer said. “It’s just pretty cool to get it as a freshman.”

Mullennax echoed her sentiments.

“It’s just amazing,” he said. “It’s just fun to meet new people and to know that you got voted out of a bunch of people in the school.”

The king and queen were next to be crowned; senior Macade Chandler was crowned Fall Homecoming King, and senior Keelyn Wilkerson as the Fall Homecoming Queen. Chandler and Wilkerson were both happy and grateful to win.

“I feel really good,” Chandler said. “I want to thank everybody that voted for me, all the student body, and the Student Council for putting [Homecoming] on.”

“It was super honorable that people chose me to be the queen,” Wilkerson said.

The dance was held in the auxiliary gym inside Gibson Southern High School from 9-11 p.m., also organized by the Student Council. 

“I think that if you ask anybody, it went off without a hitch for the most part,” Student Council adviser Ian Gamroth said. “Any mistakes that came up, or surprises, were handled through the student members in the committees. My involvement was very little. I did not have to step in because they used their problem solving and leadership skills to handle what needed to be done.”

The amount of money that was raised for the various fundraisers held was higher than what was expected.

“We raised $820 for Student Council, which equates somewhere between 275 and 280 kids that showed up,” Gamroth said. “I think the numbers speak for themselves for how well it went off. The other thing I want to highlight is the kids that helped put together the Riley Miracle Minute. We blew the previous record out of the water for the money that we raised. We raised just over $1,600 in a minute for Riley. So, it’s a testament to the kids that organized all of that.”

All of the ideas were proposed and executed by the students in the Student Council.

“It is a true testament to the power of the student body,” Gamroth said. “If they put their mind to something, they can really take the reins and accomplish a lot. It makes me excited to see what they are going to do the next committees that are put together for the Winter Homecoming. Maybe we can make more money for Riley than we did during the football game. I think that it just really shows that if we give the students the freedom to make their decisions and lead within themselves, we can do great things within the school.”