Cheers and celebrations echoed throughout the stand of West’s football stadium as this year’s Homecoming Court was crowned during the Homecoming football game on October 17, 2025. Although West didn’t host a dance this year, school spirit ran high as students celebrated a week filled with fun outfits, pride and community.
Nominations are an extensive process in themselves, involving weeks of preparation and the lengthy process of selecting only a handful of students out of such a huge population. Students must be in the 11th or 12th grade to be considered for nomination. Students can be chosen by their teachers if they are active members of a club, sport or other activity at West.
“I think I got nominated by one of my football coaches; it felt good just to know that my football coach viewed me that way, that they saw me worthy for Homecoming,” junior Liam Manor said.
Many teachers who are club sponsors will either nominate a student themselves or have club members vote for who they think should be considered for the first round of voting for Homecoming Court.
“I got nominated by a club, specifically the drama club. I was shocked at first by what it was. I was not paying attention the last two years during Homecoming and I felt excited,” junior D’Vaughn Bowen said.
Some students campaigned during the voting period to encourage others to vote for them. Some students politely asked others to vote for them, some had their friends inspire others to vote through word of mouth and some chose not to campaign at all. Each student nominated for the court approached promoting their candidacy differently based on their personal preferences.
“I did not do much promotion, but a lot of my friends convinced their friends to vote for me,” junior Sophia St. Clair said.
There were three rounds of elections and two opportunities for the entire student body to vote. For the first round, students voted for eight senior girl nominees and eight senior boy nominees. Students were also to vote for four junior girl nominees and four junior boy nominees. The first round of voting results determined who would be on Homecoming Court. The second round of voting decided who would be on the Homecoming Royal Court. Students voted for the Homecoming King and Queen, Prince and Princess and the male and female junior representatives.
After advancing through the first round of voting, many of the nominees shared their excitement about being chosen to move towards the next stage where the royal court would be finalized. Even with the competition narrowing, the nominees expressed gratitude and support for their fellow peers who were also on the court.
“I think it is exciting, I believe we have really good candidates for all of our people, so to be able to be a part of that is pretty meaningful,” senior Keelan Ramos said.
Other nominees shared similar feelings, emphasizing the fairness of the process and their overall enthusiasm for participating. Regardless of the final votes, nominees were very honored and grateful for the opportunity to represent their class on the court.
“I feel like everyone has an equal chance at winning, since they have made it this far already and I am just excited to be on it,” senior Nora Swain said.
During the halftime of the Homecoming game, each nominee represented on the court was introduced and given a moment for their in school and out of school involvement . Once all nominees were introduced to the stadium, the royal court was to be announced. The junior representative winners were Darius Greenlee and Jurney Atwater. The Prince and Princess winners were Ethan Barghout and Olivia Hutchsion. And the Homecoming King and Queen winners were Keenan Cuthrell and Keelan Ramos.
“It felt good to win. I was kind of expecting it since people seem to like me for some reason even though I try to keep to myself. It felt even better [to win Homecoming King] because we beat the crap out of RJR,” senior Keenan Cuthrell said.
“I was pretty shocked to win Homecoming Queen because I wasn’t expecting it but I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity. I was so happy to be surrounded by my family, friends and staff who have supported me throughout my years in the West at that moment,” Ramos said.
After weeks of hard work and preparation, the 2025-26 Homecoming has come to an end. Having the opportunity to show school spirit during Homecoming not only fills the campus with immense pride, especially for those who were nominated or crowned, but also strengthens the sense of community. Be sure to get involved again next year.
Lijie Dong • Nov 7, 2025 at 3:18 pm
This article absolutely blew me away. The writing is sharp, sincere, and full of heart. The author didn’t just report on Homecoming—they brought it to life. Every quote, every detail, every moment was captured with such care and clarity. You can feel the energy of the stadium, the nerves of the nominees, and the pride of the community pulsing through every paragraph. It’s rare to see a student writer with this level of voice, structure, and emotional insight. Whoever wrote this—keep going. You have a gift, and the world needs more of your words.