Island Pageantry

It was the first post-Matthew day back at school, and the kids capped it off with their annual Homecoming Celebration. It takes a village, they say, and many people pitched in to help make Homecoming happen less than a week after a hurricane and record-setting high tide. Thanks to principal Walt Padgett, faculty and staff members Jennifer Garrish, Leslie Cole, Charles Temple, Mary McKnight, Jeanie Owens, Lisa Caswell, Chrissy Waller, and Denny Widener, and students Juan Morales and Kalai Samick for the evening's fun and pageantry. Ocracoke School thanks the community of Ocracoke for their continued support of Ocracoke School and its students. The Homecoming program included special shout-outs to Daphne Bennink, Jason Wells, and the Variety Store. 

Seniors Carson O'Neal and Sydney Austin were crowned King and Queen, just after Kaylee Gaskins and Dylan Sutton, also seniors, were annointed with the royal titles of Princess and Prince. The 2015 Homecoming Queen, Josie Winstead, was back on the island to place the tiara on her friend and former teammate's head when Sydney's named was called. The entire student body votes for the Homecoming royalty, and young kids sit on the gym floor to get front row seats at the crowning. They want to know if their candidate won!

Homecoming Court was emceed this year by high school science teacher Jennifer Garrish. Twenty-seven young men and women opted to join the festivities – at Ocracoke School, being in the Homecoming Court is open to all high school students who wish to participate. 

Following the Court were the ever-popular photo-ops when the kids pose with each other, their families, and everyone else, taking the photos for their social media outlets and the school yearbook. 

The Homecoming festivities began and ended with basketball. Before the Court presentation, two teams of middle school boys played a game, and after the Court, two teams made up of 9th and 10th grade boys played against each other. There was also a hot dog/bake sale fundraiser for the 4th and 5th grades' spring field trip to the NC mountains. Go Dolphins!  

Click on any photo below to enlarge it, then you can scroll through them all by clicking the "next" button in the upper right corner. Enjoy!