Seniors stick together and win Homecoming 

Courtesy of SHSTV

Seniors Michelle Wan and Erika Anderson dancing in the all girls’ dance.

Hundreds of students, staff members and parents erupted in cheers during the seniors’ quad day performance on Sept. 22 as Michelle Wan and Erika Anderson led the all girls’ dance group as they moved to the beat of Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red.” It was just one example of the stunning choreography onlookers admired during the highly anticipated lunchtime performance. 

Class officers planned a total of seven dances — the dances were organized in the following order: co-ed, Bollywood, K-pop, color guard, all boys’ dance, all girls’ dance, stunt and the finale. 

Sixty members of the Class of ’24 participated in the performance this year, 10 more than last year’s turnout. Seniors went to the extreme to wow the crowd: For example, volleyball players Eric Norris, Samuel Kau and Edmond Hsu showed their athleticism when they performed coordinated backflips. 

“I think there was definitely more spirit this year because people started to realize it was their last year,” senior Paul Hulme said. 

The skit featured several characters from “Toy Story,” including seniors Maia Shama as Woody, Ariana Tootoonchi as Buzz Lightyear, Cailtin Weber as Hamm, Lexi Cleland as Bo Peep, Arushi Maheshwar as Andy, Scotty Rich as Mr. Potato Head and Josh Ta as Mrs. Potato Head. 

The rest of the participants, totalling around 50, wore pink barbie baseball shirts. The performers followed the storyline of Andy and his toys navigating their way through high school. The ending included part of the Barbie movie’s plot, which featured characters including seniors Taylor Chu as Barbie and the Lamp and Paul Hulme and Ethan Canahuati as Ken. 

From left to right: seniors Ariana Tootoonchi, Maia Shama and Lexi Cleland performing in the quad day skit.

“Our skit group tripled this year and there were more participants in every dance,” said senior Margaret Laver, who played the slinky dog. “It was really cool to see so much involvement this year.”

From left to right: Paul Hulme as Ken, Anannya Raman as Jesse, Margaret Laver as Slinky dog and Isara Chankhunthod as a sophomore

In previous years, the Class of 2024 was disqualified in their sophomore year and severely penalized in their junior year for inappropriate dancing, so they were determined to leave a good final impression this year. Though some seniors cut the line close with their extra cropped crop tops and borderline inappropriate dancing, the class wasn’t disqualified. Judges’ scores were announced at the Homecoming dance on Sept. 23 with the seniors placing first, juniors placing second, sophomores third and freshmen fourth. 

“Seniors are always supposed to have the best performances and we were motivated by the impressive performances from the underclassmen to do better,”  Chan said.

Class of ‘24 celebrates the finale with red and pink powder

Photos courtesy of SHSTV and Angela Tan