By Zaira Solis
The Batavia Fine Arts center was packed with parents, teachers, and student from Batavia High School by 6:30 on Sat., Jan 23. The lucky competitor to win Mr.BHS was senior Alex Cahill.
At the beginning of the show each contestant started out by being escorted by a girl from their grade level with background music of their choice. After each contestant took a little walk around the judges they were asked three or four questions to entertain the audience and let the judges get to know them a little better.
“Mr. BHS to me means to have a fun experience and to meet new people,” said participant Max Hardin.
Hardin didn’t know much about Mr. BHS when he signed up for it but he was glad he did because he ended up having a blast preparing and performing.
Freshmen started the show off first and it then went in chronological order by grade level from youngest to oldest. After each contestant walked out it gave the audience a chance to get to know each participant a little better based on how they came out.
After each kid answered their own questions and walked out with their escorts they each came out in their own types of swimsuit wear. This whole portion of the show wasn’t really a way to be judged on how well they wore your swimsuit but how well you did entertaining the audience and the judges.
Some competitors came out with regular swimsuit trunks but played music to make the show more fun, while others came out riding along in their own fake boats pretending they were in the middle of the ocean. Some came out with a more outgoing type of bathing suit like Hawaiian skirts and fake coconuts on their chests.
Other participants asked the audience questions, others took volunteers, and just to make the show a little more enjoyable kids threw candy at the audience and others tossed out t-shirts for the part of their performance. Just from seeing all the different kids up there doing their own thing you could tell that they were having a really fun time.
“The ability to speak in front of groups of people and be more comfortable around everyone.” said participant Max Hardin.
Hardin gained a lot more courage just from participating in Mr.BHS due to the fact that he had to speak in front of a large group of people.
The last portion of the pageant was talent. Each kid came out doing what they thought would win over the judges and audience so they would raise more money. These talents varied from music, sports, to just being able to tell funny jokes to the judges. Some sang, others played piano, rode tricycles, and some even mixed songs together to dance to.
After each portion of the contest was fulfilled there was a short intermission for the kids to go back and get into nice tuxedos and come out to be bided on. Each kid came out one after the other and stood out in front of everyone when the bidding started. Almost every kid was bid on for at least over $30 and was able to raise more money for the fundraiser. The students were able to raise over $1000 to help Spastic Paralyses.