The Winter Homecoming at McPherson High School is only a couple of weeks away and it’s time for all the students to vote their homecoming queen and king. Sometimes it might be hard to decide who to vote for but now there won’t be any excuse.
The eight Homecoming candidates decided to open their hearts so students can really know who they are going to vote for. Keanna Sullivan, Olivia Cheatham, Riggs Kuhn, Paige Stucky for girls and Zachary Stein, Javyn Alexander, Teegan Haines, Gunner Schumacher for boys are ready to contend for the Homecoming crown for queen and king.
Keanna Sullivan is involved in 12 activities at MHS. However, she was extremely surprised when the candidates’ names came out. “When I was a kid, all my babysitters were candidates so I’ve always thought it would have been cool!” said Sullivan.
Sullivan has good memories of the high school years. The best part, according to her, is the connection that she has with the people of the teams she’s in. “I had a lot of little achievements during high school but I think the biggest were state choir and passing my AP classes with an A” said Sullivan.
Sullivan will attend Oklahoma Wesleyan University next fall and she will major in elementary education and a minor in psychology. She loves little kids and she plans on focusing on 1st through 3rd grade. She will be part of the soccer team as well.
Sullivan is compassionate, empathetic and outgoing. “To the students I want to say to follow their heart” she said, “all the candidates are great, everyone could win!”
Paige Stucky is another candidate for the girls. Even if she is not currently involved in any sport, she was part of the high steppers for three years. She is involved in National Honor Society and International Club. “My biggest achievement was being accepted in the NHS (National Honor Society). I was very proud,” said Stucky.
Stucky is kind, responsible and empathetic. She loves to hang out with her friends and her boyfriend. Baking and working out are some of her passions as well.
“I will miss high school, I will miss the people here,” said Stucky. She already knows what to do after high school though. She will attend Hutchinson Community College for two years and then transfer to Wichita State University to study dental hygiene.
Stucky’s life’s quote is “You’ll never know the value of a moment until it becomes memory.” “I want to thank all the students that are going to vote for me, ” she said, “and I want to wish good luck to all the other candidates!”
Riggs Kuhn has been involved in soccer and tennis all throughout high school. Sport are very important for Kuhn. “My biggest achievement was going to state tennis two years in a row with my sister,” she said.
Kuhn has two younger sisters and they look up to her since she is the oldest. She describes herself as nice, athletic and shy. “When people think about me, they think about the word short,” said laughing Kuhn.
Animals are a big passion for her and Kuhn loves working with them. Next fall she will attend Johnson County Community College and she is going to study animal science. She is going to play soccer there as well.
When asked about the best moment of high school, Kuhn said, “I think being a homecoming candidate is my best moment. So far it has been so fun and exciting!” Kuhn wants to give a message to all the students, “I’m thankful if you’ll vote for me but just vote for your favorite person.”
Olivia Cheatham is the last candidate for the girls. Cheatham is involved in golf and softball for sports and KAY, STUCO, international club and FCA for clubs. “The more involved you are, the more people know you so there might be better chances of winning.” she said.
Cheatham is sarcastic, generous and kind. She said that one of her characteristic traits is not judging right away. She always tries not to see the bad in people and give them more chances.
She will miss high school and all the memories. “My biggest achievement was last year when we got second at state for softball. It was very cool because the year before we were not even close to making it to state!” she said proudly.
Cheatham has an older brother and she looks up to him a lot. “He is going to K-State and I will go there. He is a big reason why I decided to study at K-State.” she said. She will study interior design.
According to Cheatham, being a candidate is interesting.“I’ve always been in STUCO so I knew how to help out with it rather than being a candidate. It’s very different how everything goes around you, it’s so crazy!” she said.
Gunner Schumacher is one of the candidates for the boys. Schumacher has been involved in football, track, baseball, KAY club and National Honor Society. “Being accepted into the NHS was probably my biggest achievement,” he said.
Schumacher describes himself as a leader, hardworking and committed. He is very nice to others as well. “If you help people and you are nice to them, they will remember you so it might make a difference as far as voting,” he said.
During his free time, he likes to hunt, fish and hang out with friends. Schumacher has two sisters, one older and one younger. The older one is 23 years old and the younger one is a junior at MHS.
He will miss high school because he had good moments and a lot of memories. “My best moment would probably be when I passed my college classes with As,” said Schumacher. After high school, he is going to college.
Zachary Stein was extremely surprised when the names of the candidates came out. “I was playing video games in my basement and I saw an email. I was like, what is this?!” he said laughing.
Stein is involved in band, debate and forensics. One of his favorite hobbies is playing video games. He describes himself as talkative, energetic and eclectic. “When people think about me, something that stands out is how much I talk!” he said.
“My best moments during high school were spending time with my friends and the senior sunrise at the beginning of my senior year,” said Stein. He will definitely miss high school but he is ready to move on.
“I don’t think I’ll wish to be in high school again but I’m glad I got to experience it all. These years will always have a special place in my heart,” said Stein. Next fall he will attend Kansas State University and he will study parks management and conservation.
Stein’s life’s quote is “Let everything happen to you, beauty and terror, no feeling is final, just keep going.” Ultimately he is very happy to be a candidate and he thinks that all the other candidates deserve it and they should all be grateful and proud.
Teegan Haines, when the names of the candidates came out, was surprised as well as very excited. “I’ve always looked up to those people that were candidates. I’ve never really dreamed of it but it’s still pretty cool that it happened,” he said.
Haines has been involved in baseball, football and, since this year, KAY club. He describes himself as funny, determined and disciplined. His favorite hobbies are golfing, fishing, hunting and hanging out with friends. Haines has three younger siblings and he is a role model for them.
His best moments and memories are mostly sport related. His biggest achievement was having five interceptions in the football game against Buhler High School this year. “I had a couple of best moments. One of them is definitely when we won the first baseball state championship in the history of the school district. The second one was winning against the Buhler football team on senior night in Wichita,” said Haines.
When people think about him, the first thing that comes to their mind is probably football, he said. However, Haines’ worst moment during high school was football related. “During my sophomore year I broke my arm during a game,” he said.
When asked if he will miss his high school years, Haines responded, “Absolutely! Probably just leaving my best friends behind is the biggest reason why.” Next fall he will attend Garden City Community College to play football. After two years he plans to transfer and attend a Division 1 college to keep playing football.
Javyn Alexander is the last candidate for boys. “I thought it was pretty cool because not everyone gets to be a candidate,” he said. Alexander has been involved all throughout high school in truck, football and FCA.
Football is important to Alexander. “My biggest achievement was starting varsity football as a sophomore,” he said proudly. His best moment was beating the Buhler High School football team at Riverfront Stadium this year.
Alexander describes himself as fun, sarcastic and loyal. During his free time, he loves to work out, hang out with friends and family and walk with his dog. Alexander has four siblings, two younger sisters and two older brothers.
Next fall he will attend Tabor College and he will play football with his brother. He plans to attend Tabor for one year and then transfer to another college. He doesn’t know where he will go yet.
Alexander will miss high school’s friendships and sports. “Enjoy your four years here,” he advised the other students. Alexander’s life quote is “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.”
Homecoming is getting closer and so is the proclamation of the king and queen. These candidates are ready to compete not to sink each other but to lift each other up.
Every single candidate is happy and grateful to be here and even though there will be winners and losers, the biggest victory for them is being part of the Homecoming court.
