By: Caroline Smelko

Every year at Eisenhower High School, senior high boys have the chance to compete to be the king of Eisenhower in the annual Mr. EHS competition. The competition is put on by Eisenhower Journalism, and consists of categories including school spirit, talent, the knight challenge, and formal wear. The event is a humorous take on a beauty pageant, while also building Eisenhower school spirit. For example, while contestants are in their formal attire, they will answer fishbowl questions modeled after “Miss America,” and during the school spirit segment, they answer questions about the school. These categories are judged and scored by the most trustworthy faculty members here at Eisenhower High School. Last year, the crowned king was senior, Alex Barnett, as his poetry readings really won over the judges.

The Squire interviewed last year’s runner-up, Michael Abadie, and asked him how he will take on the competition this year. He responded, “I’ll aim for being as entertaining as possible, while simultaneously representing our school compellingly.”

This year there will be a category change. The muscle competition will be replaced with the knight challenge. This category will feature a variety of minute-to-win-it games and contestants will be scored on how well they perform each game. After informing Abadie of this recent change, he provided that he was intrigued and shared that he feels that any events that help out the smaller guys will be encouraging.

Another change being made to this year’s competition is the age of the contestants. In previous years, only junior and senior boys were eligible to compete. However, with the revamping of the Mr. EHS competition, all boys in grades 9-12 are encouraged to participate. Because of the inclusion of the younger grade levels, not only will there be a crowned king of EHS, there will also be an underclassman Mr. EHS crowned. The king must be in either 11 or 12 grade and the underclassman will be a contestant in either 9 or 10 grade.

The competition may seem intimidating to newcomers, since they must perform live and on stage in front of an audience. However, Abadie provided some useful advice to newer participants. He encourages newer participants to be, “…as remarkable as you can. Having the judges remember you could definitely improve their impressions of you.” Abadie also won this year’s talent show, so he is definitely someone comfortable on the stage. Participants may want to follow this advice to help get noticed by the judges.

This year, the Mr. EHS competition will be held on Thursday February 27, 2020 in the Eisenhower High School auditorium. Members of the community are encouraged to come watch this exceptionally entertaining night. The price of admission is four dollars per person and all proceeds help support the Journalism Club here at Eisenhower High School.

The Squire wishes all future participants the best of luck and hopes to see everyone there! Remember to check out updates on our website, squirenews.com, after the event to find out who gets the privilege of being crowned king of Eisenhower High School.