“With losing my mom, I’ve built some really strong bonds with my teachers. At Mann Elementary, I loved every single one of my teachers. My fifth grade teacher really got me into reading -- she read “The School for Good and Evil” books a little bit at a time, and I ended up buying the first book to read ahead. I read a lot now because of her. Ms. Otradovic, my seventh grade social studies teacher at Carver, she was so kind and kind to everyone.
Each of my favorite teachers at Mann, Carver and Kickapoo, all had a huge impact on me. They made me care about other people, because they cared about me. So now, if I see you in the hallway, I want to know your name. It’s important to know and care about people. Little bonds create big relationships, and I’ve made a ton of them here at Kickapoo. Having those relationships led to my friends nominating and voting for me to be Homecoming Queen. I didn’t vote for myself; my friends voted for me. My school voted for me.
It feels really good to be the first Black Homecoming Queen at Kickapoo High School. I think I can show what Kickapoo is: by my classmates voting for me, it shows that our school is choosing to see and recognize me as a woman of color. I broke the stereotype of a Homecoming queen and who she is, that archetype. I don’t want to be seen as popular, I want to be kind and for people to know me because I know them.
I’m super involved: I’m a band kid first, and I play tenor sax. I do make-up for Drama Club. I do shotput and javelin for track and field. I know kids in orchestra, in choir, in the hallways. I’m friends with so many people because I’m a people person: I want to be someone who people want to be around.
When I make people smile and laugh, I feel like I’m making my mom proud. I feel like I’m living the life my mom would want me to be. I know she’s proud of me for being Homecoming queen, but she raised me to be kind, to care about others. That’s more important to me than a crown.”
