Every year, royalty is brought to the main gym through the annual May Day celebration. On April 28, Makena Big-John and Evan McCreary were crowned May Queen and King, selected from the elected May Court. This year was the 101st time the event was held. Entertainment included the maypole dance, a talent show, and dances by the May Court. Students could audition to perform for the talent portion, and seniors interested in being on May Court were able to audition in early February. 

Some of the seniors elected for May Court were Angie Nelson, Lily Hobi, Earl Ingle, TJ Thayer, Calvin Reynolds, and ASB president Sky Gomes. In order to get elected, there is a specific process applicants must go through.

“You have an interview,” Nelson said. “You talk for about two minutes about something that impacted you. You talk in front of people and you get scored on how your presentation skills are, then you also have a student poll.”

In addition to the speech and student vote, applicants must also have a GPA of 2.5 or more. There was a panel of judges to consider the interview, and only the best candidates were chosen. 

“I’m a part of this group called Trauma Intervention Program, or TIP,” Hobi said. “What we do is we’re trained and then we’re called out by the emergency response system, to comfort people after a tragedy or a death in the family or school. And so [for my speech] I just shared my about my first call, and how it felt because I lost my grandfather to suicide and I was helping at a school where there had been a student who had also died by suicide. So I was able to connect with the girl through that shared understanding.”

May Court is intertwined with the community, and alumni often come back to view it during the evening showing. Often, the previous king and queen come back to crown the new king and queen. This year, Mariam Hassen and Karter Hill returned to crown this year’s royals. 

“It’s something that my sister and my mom went through, and not everybody at the school gets to do it.” Ingle said. “I think it’s pretty cool because I’ll be part of something that generations have been part of.”

The event that takes up the most practice and time for the May Court is their prince and princess dance. In the weeks leading up to May Day, court members were required to come in and practice from 6—9 p.m. every Sunday.  

“The practices every Sunday are really fun,” Gomes said. “It’s something different for me because I’m not a dancer, but it’s kind of brought me out of my shell.”

Participating in May Court is an opportunity offered to seniors as a way to spend time with friends, get to know new peers, and participate in a long lasting tradition. 

“There are a lot of the people on court who aren’t my normal friend group,” Hobi said. “So it’s fun to kind of branch out and talk to them.”

To see more stories about the 101st May Day, click here to view all May Day stories.