PHOTO/ Jisele Garcia During the Homecoming halftime show, 2022 Homecoming Princesses Kaitlin Serrato, Sydney Anderson, Chelsea Fung and Paris Lee (left to right) smile around Rhonda Ram, who represented newly crowned Homecoming Queen senior Irene Li on Oct. 21.
By Tyler Lau
Staff Writer
The 2022 Homecoming football game revealed senior Irene Li as Homecoming Queen, while the varsity football team lost 42-0 against the La Cañada Spartans on Oct. 21. Based on the popular board game Monopoly, the Homecoming theme, “Invested in You,” capped off the week’s festivities including lunch activities, a spirit week, a pep rally, a football game and the dance.
The 2021 Homecoming Queen, alumni Emily La, passed on her crown to Rhonda Ram, representing Li as the next queen, carrying on the nine-year POTC win streak.
“I am very shocked and surprised and proud of myself,” Li said. “But I’m also thankful that I get to run with and compete against such amazing girls. I’m just happy to be here.”
ASB announced Li, along with Sydney Anderson, Chelsea Fung, Paris Lee and Kaitlin Serrato as the 2022 Homecoming Court on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Seniors nominated and students voted for their preferred candidate through the 5-Star App.
The Pep Rally on Oct. 21 highlighted the Homecoming princesses and their escorts, as they participated in games such as a hat-throwing game, balloon-robbery, basketball shootout and a catwalk. The rally also featured performing art performances and the spirit week scores and winners.
The Homecoming dance featured street market-styled catering, activities and decorations alluding to different aspects of Monopoly. Dance attendees crafted paper rings and assembled flower crowns, alluding to the ring on the Luxury Tax space and Marvin Gardens. Dance goers sang karaoke in room 601, which also contained a photo booth while the dancing itself occurred in the lunch shelter. The dance sold a total of 677 tickets.
“We put a lot of detail into every aspect of the dance so that there was a creative part and fun part to it,” senior ASB Activities Commissioner Samantha Lee said. “It’s just all around fitting towards the theme and made the dance lively, making it seem like we weren’t on campus.”
The halftime show featured Performing Arts groups such as the Pride of Temple City marching band, Color Guard, Choreo and Brighter Side Singers.
The Monopoly-themed spirit week ran from Monday, Oct. 17 to Friday, Oct. 21. The sophomores ended the week with the most spirit points, followed by the seniors, freshmen and juniors with scores of 452, 430, 418 and 335, respectively. Each day represented different aspects of the board game. Students wore orange/mismatched clothing for Chance Day, blue/vacation wear for Boardwalk, striped clothing for Go to Jail, yellow/semi-formal clothing for Marvin Gardens and class colors for Pass Go.
The Princesses participated in some lunchtime activities including a Finish the Lyrics activity on Oct. 17, and a water gun challenge on Oct. 20. The Princesses invited up to four guests each to a luncheon on Oct. 18 in Room 601. Friends and family delivered speeches to honor the nominees and then participated in a trivia game and a Monopoly Bingo.