Formerly male-only Mr. HHS evolves into gender-inclusive Next Top Hawk

was senior Kaitlyn Nash representing Queer Straight Alliance and the People’s Choice was Nigel Norman representing Science Olympiad.

“It’s a pageant that pits senior Hawks against each other in the quest to become [the] Next Top Hawk,” Deibert said. “As much as the event is competitive, it’s a fun way for our seniors to represent their student organizations on campus, and perform on a stage for the Hendrickson community to enjoy.”

The pageant’s style is very similar to the Miss Universe Pageant because it starts off with a runway in which the 13 seniors represented their clubs through their fashion choices, an interview portion with two questions, a talent show and the People’s Choice in which the audience voted for the Next Top Hawk during intermission by purchasing tickets and putting them in a jar to have a say in which senior won.

“[During the] runway, [the contestants] wear the outfit that best represents [the] organization [they are part of],” floral design teacher Pilar Gonzalezmunoz said. “During [the] Interview [portion, they will be asked] thought questions.”

People’s Choice depends on how many] people come [to support them] so [they] can get the most ticket votes!”

Before the gender-inclusive NTH contest in which all seniors are invited to apply to represent their clubs regardless of whether they are male, female, trans or nonbinary, there was the Mr. HHS competition which was almost exactly the same except the applicants had to be a male senior representing his club. Female and nonbinary students were excluded from the application process.

Rachel Calabuig | Reporter

With his peppy slogan, “Hawk Nation, Let’s Fly!” Class of 2023 and National Honor Society President Cash Deibert encouraged students to purchase the Next Top Hawk tickets to not only go see some member of the senior class perform in Next Top Hawk, but vote for who they think is the best contestant of the show---all in an effort to raise money for the senior prom.

The Next Top Hawk contest, showcasing the talents of 13 seniors, was held at the school’s performing arts center Friday Feb. 10 starting at 6:30 p.m. as one of the senior class fundraisers to raise money for their senior prom. The Next Top Hawk

Intermission is an opportunity for the audience members to buy tickets for the People’s Choice portion. During those 15-minutes, the contestants will be preparing for their talent which starts after intermission.

“[The] People’s Choice [portion is the] audience members buying tickets (four tickets for $1) to vote for [the contestants] during the intermission,” Gonzalezmunoz said. “[Who wins the

“It was still a fun event to raise funds for the senior class and have students represent their clubs,” Deibert said. “[However,] it is largely a relic of the past, as [the] COVID-19 [pandemedic] stopped the annual Mr. HHS event.” Deibert remembers the pageantry, the fun the students participating in the event had, and the joy coming from the audience as they cheered the senior male contestants on. Now the application requirements have been extended to all senior students who are passing all of their classes with a grade of a 70 or higher and would like to represent some of the school’s student organizations.

“The change was from the place of wanting maximum participation from our student body, and because Mr. HHS wasn’t necessarily well known by a majority of students who never got to witness it,” Deibert said. “[The Next Top Hawk Pageant is a] model that we can say was created by the Class of 2023 and can hopefully be replicated in the future.”