By Mirolla Mekaiel
As the school year begins, Gladiators are enthusiastic about the return of a somewhat “normal” school year. Ready to start off the year with a lot of school spirit, Gladiators were disappointed when they found out that the traditional Homecoming court would endure some change. The news quickly spread through the halls of New Hyde Park Memorial that the Homecoming “Queen” and “King” would now be changed into one “Royal Gladiator.” Many started to question whether the students had a say in this significant change.
The night before Homecoming voting would take place, seniors and seniors’ parents started to bombard Dr. Faccio and senior class officers with their concerns. Parents were upset that their kids would not experience the traditional New Hyde Park Memorial Homecoming that they had when they were in high school. Seniors were upset that their class had no say in the change. Senior class officers were overwhelmed as students blamed them for this change even though they too had no say in it.
The next morning, these concerns were addressed. Desperate for a compromise between what the seniors wanted and what the administrators wanted, senior class officers held a meeting with Dr. Faccio to address their concerns. The compromise: instead of one “Royal Gladiator” there would be two. This change seemed to cool down the heated senior class arguments. Class of 2023 officers’ concerns were also met as Dr. Faccio assured them that they would have a say in any events that would affect their class. But what effects would this change have on New Hyde Park Memorial’s future Homecomings?
Artwork by Helee Shukla
Homecoming tradition shifts from king and queen to Royal Gladiators.
Administrators said that this change had been in consideration since last year’s Homecoming but it was held off until this year. According to Dr. Faccio, the change was made to award the top two vote-getters, as opposed to one boy and one girl exclusively. But was this change worth abandoning the traditional Homecoming custom? Within our district, Floral Park Memorial abandoned the king and queen tradition a few years ago.
Even though the “Royal Gladiators'' are new to us, our school will have no trouble making this transition, especially with our significantly diverse community. As we progress, new traditions are always being made and the “Royal Gladiators” are just a start to a more inclusive one.
Editor's Note: For more information on this subject, please visit the article "Stepping Up for Homecoming" in the News Section.
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