In light of how the stereotypical “homecoming queen” title has placed value on things like prettiness and popularity, these teens are ditching the school tradition in favor of something better.
The student council of Chelsea High School in Michigan have unanimously agreed to replace their homecoming queen tradition with a new “Excellence Award” that will instead recognize students based on their emotional, social, or academic attributes.
The students hope that the new award will help prevent bullying within the school. In the past, the homecoming queen process has been notorious for pitting girls against each other, hurting student feelings, and even being used for bullying purposes.
The school has been working to fight bullying since they launched their #WhyYouMatter campaign in 2016. The new Excellence Award, which will be unveiled at the homecoming football game later this week, is just another way in which the youngsters hope to reward and emphasize student kindness and character, regardless of gender.
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Student Council President Drew Vanderspool says that the majority of the high school’s student body has welcomed the change.
“Previously with the homecoming queen award, we thought that it was saying that as a school we really valued the kids that were the prettiest or the most popular,” Vanderspool told Michigan Radio, “and we think that by changing the idea behind the award into the Chelsea Excellence Award, we’re saying as a high school that we value kids with character and kindness and school spirit above that, and we allow kids to be who they want to be without being judged or without feeling like they have to fit into certain categories here at CHS.”
Be Sure And Pass On The Positive Story To Your Friends – Photo by Chelsea High School
An excellence award sounds clear and really good.