The Orange High School Prom King and Queen were announced on Saturday, April 14. The winners were Blake Hall and Grace Huskins. Nominations for king and queen were done weeks prior to the event. The seniors were asked to nominate any girl and boy in the senior class.
The nominees for prom queen were seniors Chenoa Daye, Chasity Hayes, and Grace Huskins, and the nominees for king were seniors Blake Hall and Andrew Toney. The DJ announced the winners- Hall and Huskins. The winners got a sash and a crown stating their new title.
Winner Grace Huskins said that when she was nominated she was surprised because she did not expect to win due to the strong competition. "I heard my name being called and I thought that they were just announcing nominees, and then I turned to Nic [Peckman, her boyfriend] and said, ‘When are they saying the winner?’ and he said that it was me, that I was the winner!” said Huskins. She said she was in pure shock when her name was announced and that she was happy to have won.
Donors at the American Red Cross blood drive that was held on Wednesday, February 20, in the small gym gave a total of 64 units of blood. The blood will be able to help up to 192 patients. The blood drive, run by the Student Government Association (SGA), had to be organized in a short period of time because it was originally going to take place in late March. A conflict at a Lee County high school resulted in the school having to postpone its blood drive, and the Red Cross was depending on the drive to replenish its blood levels.
According to Caroline Allison, a Red Cross donor recruitment worker, the Red Cross had “blood types at urgent and emergency levels, and [it could not] afford to lose this drive.” Allison and the SGA worked together to quickly set up and register donors for the OHS drive, deciding to hold it earlier so the Red Cross could receive the blood it would have received from the Lee County drive.
On the day of the blood drive, students came in during first, second, and third period to donate. Many of the donors did not sign up for the drive in advance. Donors had to meet certain height, weight, and age requirements, meaning some aspiring donors were unable to donate. Anyone who has recently traveled out of the country to a location where malaria is found could not donate.
Blake Hall, a senior who donated blood during the drive, stated, “Giving single is fairly quick and easy. Doubles, however, is long. I like
SGA members believed the blood drive was successful. Haley Moser, a junior in SGA, thought that a “lot of people... signed up. [There was a] good turnout for how quickly we had to put it together.”
Dmetrius Jones, a sophomore in SGA, stated, “It’s a success. Compared to last year, we’ve grown and improved a lot more. We’ve got a lot of donors even though it was last minute.”
Hall, who is president of the SGA, stated, “We were worrying that it would be a mess, but people came out last minute and we had a lot of donors.” Nycol Lyons, a junior in SGA who helped with the blood drive in the morning and in every class period, called the blood drive “stressful but successful.”
Dylan Perry got the best place for the Orange boy's team. He earned fifth place overall with a time of 18:17 for 5K. Seniors Blake Hall and Saiquan Clark came in 20 and 21 respectively with the times 19:04 and 19:08. As a team, the Panthers earned 75 points, which meant they came in third out of the three teams competing. Chapel Hill was the winner of the race with 18 points. Cardinal Gibbons earned second place with 47 points.
For the girl's team, senior Indy Reid-Shaw placed first overall in the race, with the time 20:23, closely followed by teammate Devon Allen with the time 21:18. The Orange's girl's team also ranked third with a total score of 56 points. Chapel Hill won with 31 points, followed by Cardinal Gibbons with 45 points.
After the competition, the seniors were commemorated in a ceremony. They had food and drinks, and received the gift of an orange flower. “We had tears and cheering; tears because we were sad to see the seniors go, and cheers because they are moving on with their lives,” sophomore Christina Jones said after the ceremony. She came to support the seniors, and thought the night was a success.