By: Paityn Wyatt
Aurora High School rolled out the red carpet for the 2023-24 Homecoming King and Queen nominees. The four girl candidates were Emi Hulls, Jenna Carlson, Laighla Gimple and Natalie Bisbee. The boys’ candidates were: Lucas Riley, Ethan Raemakers, Graham Christianson, Kaiden Wineteer.
The eight seniors, along with their respected escort cheerleaders: Maddie Huls, Eva Yllescus, Ellie Brown, and Jillian Stromer eagerly awaited the results of the students’ voting.
The cheerleaders chose the themes for the week of Sept. 18 through Sept. 22.
“We all picked from a list of a lot of ideas but narrowed down to a couple we thought were super fun. We piggy backed off each other's ideas,” Maddie said.
Monday's theme was Kindergarten Day, featuring a variety of people wearing vivid pops of colors and bows. Tuesday's theme was Retro Day, with each class representing a different decade: freshman: 70’s, sophomores: 80’s, juniors: 90’s, seniors: 2000’s. Wednesday’s theme was the Red Carpet. The students dressed to impress for the paparazzi with long sparkly dresses for the females and fitted tuxes for the males. Thursday’s theme was Barbie vs Ken which featured two genders competing for a look from the new Barbie movie. Lastly, Friday’s theme was Fan Frenzy for school as well as the football game.
“Spirit week was super fun this year, for me being a freshman cheerleader, I loved seeing people get into it and dress up, unlike middle school dress up days. I also enjoyed watching people show up to school in unique and exciting outfits,” Maddie said.
This year's Homecoming was different from last year’s for many reasons. The students chose to make a twist to a formal Homecoming. The dance was casual and followed the football game.
“ I enjoyed it even though it wasn't formal. It wasn't as hype as last year, but that was because we did not have the turn out we had last year. It was still worth my time,” sophomore Ella Curtis said.
Aurora football had their Homecoming game with Aurora defeating St. Paul. At halftime of the football game, the homecoming King and Queen were announced. Aurora Senior Emilia Huls was nominated Queen, and Ethan Raemakers was nominated Homecoming King.