Senior Zach Youssef received the title Senior of the Year 2017 after running against six other contestants in the first Senior Pageant on November 10.

The Senior Pageant was broken up into three categories: formal wear, interview, and talent. The seven contestants were judged by Assistant Principal Paul DiDomenico, health teacher Melissa Arvanigian, and economics teacher Nicole Ruffo, who ultimately crowned Youssef the winner. In addition to glory, Youssef won a free parking permit.

“For the formal wear I wore a T-hawk shirt, my arms were painted red and gold, my hair was sprayed, and I painted my legs,” Youssef said. “I was wearing shutter shades and a fake red mustache. For the interview, they asked really silly questions, and so I got into my debate habits and I came up with this really elaborate answer about why you should ride an elephant. And then for the talent, I did some juggling.”

The judges came to their decision while enjoying the show.

“Zach earned the most points through the categories,” Ruffo said. “He had very good showmanship on stage and he was able to engage everyone which was very nice. Zach had a presence, and the audience was drawn to him.”

“I feel that the Senior Pageant went exceptionally well,” DiDomenico said. “It had a nice pace, it was well-attended, so it went well on a number of accounts.”

“We have at Algonquin Regional High School the most talented students in Massachusetts,” Ruffo said and continued to joke, “And this was, out of the 75 years that I judged Mr. and Mrs. ARHS, the most talented group by far, hands down.”

DiDomenico was pleased that the show was opened up to all genders; in years past, an event similar to the Senior Pageant, called Mr. ARHS, was available to only male participants.

The pageant attracted seniors with different unique and interesting talents.

“I played the recorder with my nose,” senior contestant Kayla Barletta said. “I was wicked nervous. I had never really gone in front of a crowd before so I wasn’t ready for it at all.  But it was worth it because it was a lot of fun.”

Senior Drew Cozzolino hosted the pageant, introducing individual contestants and their acts.

“Honestly, I didn’t prepare for hosting as much as I should’ve,” Cozzolino said. “We went over details in Steering [Committe] concerning what I would talk about and how I would introduce contestants, but there was no specific script I had.”

The Senior Steering Committee hopes that classes continue this event as a tradition in the future.  

“The Senior Pageant was one of the most successful events we have planned as a steering committee,” Senior Class President Brendan Foley said. “We were able to start from scratch on a new idea, and get enough of the class on board to to go to the pageant.”

“It is fun and it gets kids out of their comfort zones,” contestant senior Owen Lyons said. “The audience loved when I looked into the crowd and I brought up Chris Skinner on stage and sung Wrecking Ball to him.”

“I thought it went well,” audience member senior Caroline McAndrews said. “The performances were interesting and very different from one another, and funny. It was a good school event and a way to fundraise by bringing the community together.”