Every year, South Windsor High School seniors await in anticipation to find out who will be crowned homecoming king and queen. The entire school votes to narrow down the entire class to the homecoming court before announcing the king and queen at the football game on the day of homecoming. On Friday, October 19, the 2018 Homecoming Court was announced and the school has chosen four nominees for Homecoming Queen! Get to know your contenders for Queen below:

Kellie Ward:

On October 19, 2018, Kellie Ward was officially running in the homecoming court. Along with 3 other girls, Ward has a lot to offer as the potential homecoming queen. Along with being captain of the girls varsity field hockey team, she is involved with many other extracurricular activities. Clubs such as Bobcat Pride Organization and CATS have helped Ward introduce herself to many underclassman students. Around the school community, she has been involved in the Interact Club along with being apart of the National Honor Society. Ward is determined to make a difference in the community. For instance, Ward was the Board of Education representative, which showed her outgoing personality and passion to become involved and meet new people within the community. Her experience on the field hockey team has benefitted her by becoming meeting other athletes and supporting other sports teams. Ward is most proud of being president of South Windsor for The Kids, due to her passion towards making a difference in others lives. Ward has felt honored that through her South Windsor High School experience she has made new connections which have resulted in her votes toward homecoming queen.

Cassidy Lariviere:

Cassidy Lariviere, an involved member of the South Windsor High School community, is honored to be on the homecoming court her senior year. She is “excited” and thinks that “it’s cool that my peers picked me to be on the court.” As a well-known student, she believes that “being on the court means that you have a lot of acquaintances and a lot of people who like you and respect you.” At the school, she’s involved in a wide range of activities from lacrosse to three honor societies (National Honor Society, Spanish, and Rho Kappa). Lariviere loves to help people, and does so at her three clubs, S.A.D.D., R.A.C.E., and South Windsor for the Kids. In school, she loves science and plans to go into the nursing field. Outside of school, she spends her free-time hanging out with friends, running, and playing more lacrosse. As many people might know, Lariviere has a love for fashion. She works at Scout and Molly’s in Evergreen Walk where she uses her passion to help customers. Lariviere plans to wear a navy dress and nude colored heels to homecoming. One thing that people often don’t know is that she likes art and occasionally paints in her free-time.

Maria Hanchuk:

Maria Hanchuk is an extrovert in every way, because of this she is involved in several things throughout the school, “I’m on the yearbook staff, I’ve been an editor for two years now. I’m the president of the Bobcat Pride Organization, as well as Student Council Vice President. To be apart of something that has the ability to pick students out, it makes me feel good that I’ve done all this stuff for the school. It pays off, I’m happy to receive this honor.”  Because of the amount of clubs and sports that Maria is involved with, she known schoolwide, by teachers and students. She is respected by her peers for being humble and understanding. When asked if popularity played a role in the Homecoming Court she responded with, “I wouldn’t say popularity, I would say what you are involved in because being apart of things gives me a closer connection to other people. I wouldn’t have met many of my friends if it wasn’t for me being involved and putting myself out there and doing things. So I wouldn’t say popularity, I would say what you do with your high school career and what you do with it is what makes you get nominated.” Maria’s sister, Anna Hanchuk, was on the Homecoming Court when she was a senior in 2017, because of this the thought of being on the court may have been something she focused on throughout high school. When asked if she ever thought and focused on being the court she responded with, “I have honestly never really thought about it, I have but I never wanted to put in my mind that I really wanted it. I didn’t want to be let down in the end. I work with BPO and we do the homecoming court so I guess that since people do know that I am involved it gives me, I guess, the upper hand to be voted. But no I’ve never really thought about it being picked.” As Maria said being involved in BPO may have given her the upper had but many suspect that the court is rigged because of who is involved in the club. “Oh! Yes, I have already seen that people think it is rigged. But we hand it down to the juniors, I have absolute no involvement in it. I was not apart of the google form creation, I do not have the google forms so there is no way I can access it. There is no way I can rig it, I honestly don’t care that much to rig it.” Overall, Maria is honored to be voted on by the student body and feels that she got the votes for a reason, though she said she would be  “pleasantly surprised” if she won, she hopes that the court is voted on by who the student body wants not what she wants.

Megan Phadael:

Musically inclined is the perfect way to describe Megan Phadael, the 17 year-old senior here at SWHS that just got nominated for the homecoming court. As a member of Treble Choir and Choral Spectrum, she is constantly singing and performing with her friends. It’s not uncommon to hear her voice fill the hallway with harmonies with her friends from Treble Choir after their rehearsal. The outgoing teen has such a passion for it that she even chose to be in the school musical and learn piano too. She said, “I just love performing and being on stage, being in front of an audience. It makes me feel nervous, but happy at the same time. It’s like I get an excited yet nervous feeling, if that makes sense. But that’s my favorite part.” Megan demonstrates her love for music any chance she gets, most of her free time is spent playing piano in her room at home and recording singing videos.

Yet although Megan has a bubbly exterior and this joy for being in front of an audience, she knows what it’s like to struggle with anxiety. She stated, “Freshman year I got my first solo and I was literally crying before I went onstage. Martineau had to come back and try to calm me down, and even though he comforted me I still went on stage sounding shaky. But looking back, I’ve gained so much confidence since then and I’m not afraid to put myself out there anymore.” She’s learned to cope with her anxiety throughout high school, as it’s been something she’s always had to deal with. She does her best to not let it run her life, especially not during her senior year. She said, “If I could give freshman any advice it would be to not try to impress anybody or be liked by everyone. It’s not worth your time, and it’s draining. Just be yourself and don’t sweat it.”