As homecoming season wraps up, so does the competition to win homecoming royalty. As announced at the East Homecoming dance on Friday, September 22, this year’s homecoming Queen and King are Lauren Coniglio and Musab Gabir. While there’s a lot of pride that goes into being royalty, there is more underneath the crown.

Taking a step back, there’s a lot that goes into play throughout the homecoming court process. At East, the nomination period for homecoming court occurs the week before spirit week during lunch in the cafeteria. Any senior at East High School can nominate up to three people for King and three people for Queen. The top-voted nominations are then placed in the homecoming court, where seniors will have a chance to vote their pick. The voting period takes place during spirit week, leading up to homecoming. Typically, less than half of the seniors vote each year, with around 180 votes this year, and an even smaller number of nominations, with an approximation of 100 this year. East is trying to increase these numbers by continuing to advertise the dance and student involvement.

As far as royalty goes, East’s crowned students display what it truly means to be dignified. Musab Gabir, who was crowned King at the homecoming dance, shows his active involvement in East by being a part of the football team and the Hope Squad. Based on the crowd’s reactions when his name was called, one can understand the impact that Gabir has had on the student body at East.

“I was just kind and treated people with respect and I guess they liked it and enjoyed it,” Gabir said.

Lauren Coniglio, who was crowned Queen, also displays her involvement in the East community. Coniglio is a part of varsity cheer, varsity show choir, jazz choir, East singers, and NHS. Outside of school, she takes dance classes 4 times a week and loves to read whenever she can.

“It means a lot to me that people would even nominate me in the first place, and it’s a super cool experience to have,” Coniglio said. “Both of my parents won homecoming King and Queen at their different high schools so it’s sort of a funny, full circle moment.”

Homecoming court has been a school-wide tradition for decades and is a fun way to get involved in student life. So, the next time homecoming rolls around, make sure to get those nominations and votes in for King and Queen.