Last week, we had our annual Rose Arch and Homecoming Court assembly. Those chosen for the Homecoming Court and Rose Arch performed skits as a part of their entrances. I had a chance to interview some people as they were preparing for their ceremony.

First, here’s some intake from Mrs. Klenz about the inner-workings of the ceremony.

Mrs. Klenz

What is a summary of your role? 

I assist Rose Arch and Homecoming participants with their entrance skits—specifically, I try to help get props ready and in place prior to the entrance and/or out of the way once the skit is over.  Mrs. Nichols, Mrs. Hasenohrl, and Mrs. Sullivan help with this, as well.

How long have you been a part of the ceremony? 

I’ve been involved since Ms. Clark has been running Student Council—so what’s that—15 years or something crazy like that?

How does your day change when we have the ceremony? 

I just need to make time prior to the ceremony to talk to each of the couples/groups/people involved and take some notes.  Nothing too taxing.

What is your favorite part of the process? 

I enjoy the creativity of the skits, and it’s fun for me to get to talk to/meet students I don’t know who are a part of it.

Would you change anything about it? 

That kind of thinking is above my pay grade.

What is your favorite entrance skit/memory from your time doing this? 

That’s a tough one as my memory isn’t what it used to be. There were several this year that were impressive, but only one that was seen and shown to me by a neighbor in Avon Lake- Ben and Rose’s “Titanic” entrance. The year Ms. Clark and I retire, I think that we will have a pretty epic Rose Arch entrance.

And here are the interviews with some of the Rose Arch and Homecoming Court

The Rose Arch:

Elliot Lockshine and Kari Adkins

Frank Ricaurte and Stephanie Randar 

Nick Gauntner and Fiona Bihn 

Casey Cipollone and Sophia Ricaurte

Jack Williams and Teagan Walsh

Tim Gerent and Alexa Prexta

Nathan Hsiao and Allison Hook

Zahraa Abdulameer 

Ben Routhier and Rose Brookhart

Luca Della Vella and Lydia Choban  

Eric Kronz Claire Beck, and Richard Garber

Sami Jablonski and Patrick Hartup

The Homecoming Court:

Jake and Paige Bowman 

John Poole III and Chloe Cahill

James DeMarsh and Natalie Hazapis

What was your favorite skit through your time in high school?

Nathan: One of my favorite memories is when Chris Slander hid inside a box that was put next to the jazz band. His partner came in and pretended to look for him, then he popped out of the box and it was a cool surprise. 

Rose: My favorite skit was when I was a sophomore, and Cormac O’Donnell and Norah Wilson did a Harry Potter skit. They turned off all the lights and people turned on their phone flashlights. And they played the Harry Potter music and it was really cool. 

Paige: I think the dance skits are really fun. Last year there was a Princess and the Frog skit but it was a giraffe instead of a frog. My freshman year there was a Pokémon skit and I thought it was really fun. I really love the Rose Arch ceremony regardless of who’s in it. It’s a great tradition at Westlake High School. 

Fiona: Quinn and Rocco had a dog come out for their skit and it was really cute. 

Sophia, Teagan: The dog skits were pretty good. 

Stephanie: The chemistry experiment are pretty cool.

Allison: My favorite was the Harry Potter skit where all the lights were turned off and people turned on their phone lights. 

Natalie: That’s a hard question. I liked Kevin Wall’s and Sylvie’s skit where Kevin was in a giraffe costume, and then Sylvie kissed him on the cheek. Then he was surrounded by a sheet and he lost the costume. So it was a Princess and the Frog skit. 

Casey: I don’t remember any of them. There were good ones for sure, but none have really stuck with me. I liked Ella and Nate’s skit. 

Elliot, Kari: Ella and Nate’s “Bop to the Top.”  

Frank: Oh Terry Zheng’s skit last year was pretty good when he smashed the violin. 

Claire: My favorite was Jaffar’s where he had security—I think he was acting as James Bond—he walked in and all the lights were off and it was cool. 

Eric: I liked when Terry Zheng smashed the violin. 

Alexa: I really liked the year when they turned off the lights and no one knew where the guy was coming from, so it was a surprise for everyone. 

Jack: Emily Nebraska and Johnny Della Vella my sophomore year did their dance on segways, and I thought that was really cool. 

Did it influence how you came up with your skit?

Nathan: For my skit I wanted something simple so we did a dance called the “get up,” so it didn’t influence me but it was a great example. 

Rose: Ours is really different so I would say probably not. 

Paige: For sure, I think I wanted to be creative and act like an idiot like usual. It really brings me out of my shell. 

Fiona: Not really but it gave me some ideas of how to make it fun. 

Stephanie, Sophia, Teagan, Natalie, Allison: No. 

Elliot: We do a similar choreography-type thing.  

Kari: What they did inspired our skit. 

Frank: Definitely not. 

Eric: No unfortunately, as much as I’d love to smash a violin. 

Casey: We had a very difficult brainstorm session. I think what we came up with in the end is passible, and not bad at all. 

Tim and Alexa: No, our love for dogs overpowered that. 

Jack: It had zero influence. But I did get inspiration from other skits. 

How did your practices go? 

Nathan: They went pretty well. My partner and I met up after school the week before Rose Arch and practiced our dance. It was a lot of fun but it was hard at first because I struggled with dancing and it was difficult for me to coordinate. But after a few practices I think it’s going to go well. 

Rose: They were very, very informative and very fun. 

Paige: We didn’t really practice our skit. We’re kinda just gonna wing it, really trust each other, and see how it goes. We’re here to have fun. 

Fiona: We practiced a little. They have not gone well so far. This is also my first wearing heels, so hopefully it goes well. 

Natalie: I practiced playing the trombone at home, and one of the trombones taught me how to play. We haven’t practiced together yet so we’ll see how it goes.  

Sophia: We didn’t practice much until now when we ran through it twice, so I’m still pretty nervous. 

Teagan: We did not really practice. 

Stephanie: We didn’t really practice. We actually planned out our skit at 1 am today. 

Allison: They were really good. We practiced a lot after school, before school and at home too.   

Frank: We didn’t really practice much. We went over it once but that’s pretty much it. 

Elliot: We practiced so much—for a good twenty minutes. 

Kari: We already knew the choreography of the dance so it’s just a matter of adding it together. 

Tim and Alexa: We’re totally winging this and hopefully it goes well. 

Zahraa: I didn’t really have a formal practice. Mostly, I just went over it in my head and practiced a bit with my friend Meghan and my little sister, who’s a part of my skit. 

Jack: We did one run through and it went well.