On April 10, the seniors at Seminole High School attended the Golden Noles Gala. Since this school year has had many activities altered or removed due to COVID-19, the seniors are considering this as their Senior Prom- especially significant as they did not have prom their junior year. The Golden Noles Gala featured pictures, a meal, and superlatives. Those who attended also got to dress up in prom attire and see their friends who they have not seen due to different learning modalities this school year. 

To prevent breaches of health and maintain safety, it was essential for everyone at the gala to wear masks at all times except for when they were eating and to socially distance as much as possible. 

Hugo Martinez says, “I think the best part was getting an opportunity to see a lot of my friends again. Especially because I’ve been online this year there have been a lot of people that I simply haven’t seen in months and it was a lot of fun to see and talk to them all again even if there was no dancing. On top of that, I think that the awards ceremony was a lot more fun.”

Still, some students did not feel like a large school event would be safe, so they made other plans. Some still met up with their friends for pictures and went to a more safe location afterward. 

Kira Worthey says “I think the thing I enjoyed the most about the gala was all the different presenters. It was nice to get to see different faces throughout and it helped break everything up. Everyone had a different take on it and it was super fun.”

The superlative results for the gala are:

Most likely to come back as a teacher- Pete Glazar and Anya Wright

Most likely to become a soccer mom- Hugo Martinez and Ashley Burwell

Best smile- Robert Thomas and Shafana Mohammad

Most athletic- Robert Thomas and Stephanie Akakabota

Most likely to become President- Jay Nibhanapudy and Joceline Lasso

Class Clown- Adam Muwondoro and Brianna Tremblay

Best Dressed- Trenton Hadley and Adriana Miranda

Most likely to end up on Broadway- Dziah Daniels and Sydney Breedlove

Most likely to make a Platinum album- Nick Nelson and Olivia Merton

Next Picasso- Braeden Larson and Elle Taylor

Most likely to go viral- Jayden Matheny and Marleigh Ginas

Most likely to become a billionaire- Nicholas Letteri and Paola Gonzalez

Most likely to have their own talk show- Sebastian Marcelin and Anjelica Sanders

Highschool Sweethearts- Alexa Brown & Jean Ospina

Best hair- Logan Treffiletti and Talia Coleman

Teacher’s pet- Braeden Larson and Elle Taylor

Prettiest eyes- Delvin Ingram and Ever Renniger

Most likely to become a supermodel- Trenton Hadley and Issa Santiago

Little Mr/Miss Sunshine- David Lucdor and Kennedy Floyd

Smarty pants- Ian Henriquez and Fatema Zaman

Most likely to go off the grid- Harrison Whitten and Izma Shakil

Most likely to do anything for a retweet- Kevin Guida and Marleigh Ginas

Soul of a Nole- Jayden Matheny and Brook Algin

Most dependable- Hugo Martinez and Ammaarah Razzaq

Life of the party- Edwin Maldonado and Sara Hogenmiller

Biggest flirt- Marcos Real and Kira Worthey

Golden Gala King & Queen- Keiry Silvestre and Nick Burry

Worthey also says “I did win an award and it was pretty funny. I was not expecting to win anything so it was a nice surprise and me and my friends all got a laugh out of it.” 

Martinez states “I won an award for the most likely to be a soccer dad and most dependable. Even though the awards aren’t all that important, it’s always exciting to win so I was pretty hyped about it. The soccer dad award was extra cool, though, as Ashley won soccer mom so we got to be like a soccer couple which was fun.”

Overall, the Golden Noles Gala was a wonderful experience for the seniors. Not only did it allow the seniors to have fun and make up for the events that got canceled the year prior, but it was a perfect graduation gala for the seniors to finally bid farewell to high school.