By Thomas Sellers Jr.
The rainy night sky took a break over Mooney Boswell Field Friday night at Millington Central Middle High School so senior Ruby Russell could have her moment in the sun.
For the first time in the city of Millington’s history, the Homecoming Court was presented as MCMHS. And history will record Russell as the first Queen of the school in that form.
“It’s going to be really cool seeing my name in the spotlight and stuff. It will be the first forever, Russell said. “I get the front page of the newspaper. I feel special.”
Ruby Rose Russell was escorted by her sister Haley Davis during Friday night’s festivities. She received her tara from Peyton Fair, M.Ed. Fair, a chemistry teacher and Trojan Council sponsor, was the main coordinator of the first MCMHS Homecoming Court.
The court presented middle school students during the high school activities for the first time. Seventh graders as part of the court were Markayla Brown escorted by her mom Santisca and Katie Graves escorted by her dad Tony.
Eighth graders recognized Friday night were Scarlett Page with her dad Mike Page, Trinity Thompson with her father Keith Carroll and Neveah Tomlinson escorted by her mother Heather.
For the high school the ninth graders were Princess Tia Bryson escorted by her coach Reginald Caldwell Sr., and Haley Fiene with her dad Jay and Eva Smith with her mother Christina McKaughn.
The sophomore princess was Kaira Lopez, escorted by her mother Keren Saenz. The rest of the 10th graders were Christina Cook with her brother Dan Cook, Jennifer Guerrero escorted by her Ricardo and Shelby Pindell with her father Mike.
In the junior class, Trinitee Dickerson was voted princess escorted by her Godfather Rodney Williams. Other members of the 11th grade class were Angela Calva with her mom Angela Ramirez, Madison Rankins by her dad Bryan and Alexis Thompson escorted by her brother Gabriel Malone.
The seniors on the court were Koreena Bedford with her dad Doug, Bella Lambert with her brother Tyler, Bibiana Roblero escorted by her brother Mauricio Ortiz and Savannah Spearman by her uncle Johnny Barbee.
The last name to be called out on the evening was Ruby Rose Russell.
“I honestly didn’t think I would win,” the newly crowned Queen said. “I went around the school telling my friends, ‘Hey you should definitely vote for me.’ Then they did. Then I was on the ballot. I was like, ‘Still vote for me.’ And then I was on the Court. And now…”
Russell used her social media to get the word out about her candidacy and by Friday night she officially became the first Queen of MCMHS.
“It is a great way to start off my senior year,” Russell concluded. “Especially the last year and half because of COVID, I really didn’t get to see my friends that much. We didn’t have as many school functions as we did my freshman year. I was really sad because in my middle two years of high school I didn’t really get to contribute to anything. So I am going out with a bang my senior year.”
