King Ruben Suarez, Queen Brianna Ringen to reign over B-OPS activities
The Saints are marching into Homecoming Week 2016 – and the leaders of the Butterfield-Odin Public High School (B-OHS) contingent are seniors King Ruben Suarez and Queen Brianna Ringen.
King Ruben and Queen Brianna were crowned during a coronation ceremony held in the Butterfield-Odin Public School (B-OPS) gymnasium on Monday evening, September 26. Members of the royal court include the remaining members of the senior class, all also vying for either the crown or tiara – Tyler Miller, Jose Arreola, Corey Cowell and Bruce Ringham for King and Brenda Rodriguez, Joanna Zuniga Ariaas, Heather Pankratz, Krisana Xayaphonesongkham and Victoria San Miguel for Queen.
Little Prince Anthony Mateo Zuniga Dominguez served both last year’s king, Wong Lee, and, after the installation of the new monarch, Ruben Suarez.
Attending the 2015 Queen Jennifer Oviedo until she crowned her successor – as well as the new 2016 Queen Brianna Ringen – was Little Princess Jakelynn Tema Orozco.
Serving as Mistress of Ceremonies was Micala Lowe, with her partner at the podium, Master of Ceremonies Evan Hanson.
Escorts for the royal family were Abby McDaniel and Jorge Herrera.
Both the B-OHS Band and B-OHS Choir performed musical selections. The band, led by B-OPS Director of Bands Joshua Tonkin, played the number, “Carry On Wayward Song,” while the choir, presented by Director of Choirs Terry Etter, sang the song, “Home.”
B-OHS student athletes participating in the fall extra-curricular sports of girls tennis, volleyball, football and boys and girls cross country were introduced by Les Zellman, activities director at St. James Public High School.
All 11 of the King and Queen candidates (with the help of escort Jorge Herrera), competed as couples in a trio of royal competitions. These contests included – “Do Not Touch My Doughnut,” in which the goal was to knock a doughnut off the hand of a King candidate with a noodle sword; “Puff Patch Challenge,” the Queen candidates tossing puffcorn across the stage – and hopefully – into the mouth of their King candidate counterpart, with the winning couple the two that completed the most “passes” and “Water Bottle Down,” with the goal for the King candidates to be the first to knock over five plastic bottles of water – by swinging a pair of pantyhose with a tennis ball in one foot – the pantyhose opening over their heads – like the way an elephant’s trunk works.
A number of skits were also presented. The sophomore class shared “Cheerleader,” the B-OHS Student Council presented “Ewww!,” a pair of eighth-graders provided a “Recipe for Success,” a group of seventh-grade students had a fun time “Roasting the Cardinals” – and members of the junior class “Roasted the Seniors.” On an audience cheer vote, the junior class skit was recognized as Homecoming Skit Champion.
The B-OHS Student Council and its advisors sponsored the Homecoming coronation ceremony.
Each day of Homecoming Week, which runs through Friday, September 30, has been designated as a different Dress-Up Day for students in grades K-12. The remainder of this week’s schedule includes (although may be subject to change) –
- Tuesday: Sports/Hat Day.
- Wednesday: Pajama/Bad Hair Day.
- Thursday: Surf’s Up Thursday! (Beach wear/Hawaiian)
- Friday: Saints Pride Day (Red/Black).
As well, high school grades 7-11, along with the student council, have been given an area of the school to decorate. Those areas are –
- 7th-Grade: Hallway.
- 8th-Grade: Study Hall.
- Freshmen: Lobby.
- Sophomores: Cafeteria.
- Juniors: Gym.
- Student Council: Stage.
On Homecoming Friday, classes will dismiss for lunch at 11:34 a.m., with 12 noon the scheduled time to complete trucks decorating for the parade (each class is asked to decorate a pick-up truck and create a class banner). Parade line-up will be at 12:35 p.m., with the Homecoming 2016 Parade taking to Butterfield streets at 12:45 p.m.
At 1 p.m. the Band/Seniors/Sports Team will leave for the Parade/Pep Fest at St. James Public High School, with that parade slated to start at 1:30 p.m.
A Homecoming After Party will be held at the St. James Public School football field following the game.
The remaining sports schedule for Homecoming Week is as follows (B-OHS pairs with St. James Public High School in athletics as the Saints) –
- Tuesday, September 27: Volleyball at St. Peter, 6 p.m.; Boys/Girls Cross Country at St. James Invitational, 4:15 p.m. and Girls Tennis Big South Division event at St. James, 4 p.m.
- Thursday, September 29: Junior High Football at Redwood Valley, 4:30 p.m.
- Friday, September 30: Homecoming Football versus Redwood Valley, 7 p.m.
Following is a photo gallery from the evening’s coronation ceremony –