20 seniors. 10 days. One goal. Raise money for charity.
Each fall, high schools nationwide nominate and ultimately select kings and queens as homecoming royalty. But unlike most schools, Southern Lehigh does not elect the yearly homecoming court through a typical popularity contest. Instead, the high school upholds a unique tradition of determining homecoming court members by the amount of money each nominated senior raises for a charity of their choice.
First, the senior class nominates 10 senior boys and 10 girls. Then, those 20 seniors each select a charity and have 10 days to raise money from the community, typically by promoting their charities on social media and selling baked goods to students and staff members within the school. The five boys and five girls who raise the most money become official members of the year’s homecoming court.
“I’ve been through four districts, and it’s kind of been a frustration of mine when it was just a straight popularity contest,” high school principal Mr. Joshua Miller said. “Sometimes you have somebody up there who is picked for popularity, but they don’t always have the other students in their best interest, or they’re not there for the school in any way, shape, or form.”
Since the tradition of fundraising began in 2008, Southern Lehigh students have raised a cumulative $282,061 for charity. This year, 18 seniors raised money for 16 charities such as Camelot for Children, the American Heart Association, Sassy Massey Smiles, Stop the Bleed, and Feeding America. For many, the opportunity to represent a charity also means the ability to represent those they love. Senior Jacalyn DeSimone, who lost her grandfather to Alzheimer’s in 2022, chose to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association.
“It meant the world being able to support the Alzheimer’s Association,” DeSimone said. “I think the biggest thing is it just felt like I was honoring my grandpa and his legacy and everything he did for my family while he was living.”
Senior homecoming queen Ivory MoDavis shares a similar story, as her grandfather was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia in 2022.
“Every day I’m reminded of the struggles that those with LBD and their families face,” MoDavis said.
In addition to charities for illnesses, senior homecoming king Chris Fritts chose to raise money for the Officer David M. Petzold Memorial Foundation.
“I chose the Officer David M. Petzold Memorial Foundation because my dad was partners with Officer Petzold at the Upper Saucon Police Department when he lost his life in 2006,” Fritts said. “Since then, both of my parents have been involved in the foundation, so choosing the foundation was a no-brainer.”
While homecoming is characterized by festivities like spirit week, the pep rally, the football game, and the dance, Southern Lehigh’s fundraising tradition benefits the community as a whole in a more tangible way. Students who represent the charities have the opportunity to raise awareness and money for the foundations that mean the most to them, while the rest of the school participates through giving.
“I think the fact that we have kids out there raising the amount of money they have for local charities that they’re passionate about is amazing,” Principal Miller said.
Homecoming court nominees raise $40,720 for charity
Seniors Chris Fritts and Ivory MoDavis were crowned homecoming king and queen at the homecoming football game.
About the Contributors
Morgan Downing, Opinion and Features Editor
After spending four years writing for the Spotlight, with three of those years as Opinion editor and one as Features editor, senior Morgan Downing will graduate in May. Morgan originally joined journalism during her freshman year in hopes of finding a community of students who share an equal interest in writing. Since then, she firmly believes she found that community, and so much more.
“I’ve made some great friends through journalism that I’m very grateful for,” Downing said. “It’s the class I look forward to the most because we have so much creative freedom and the other editors make it such a fun and supportive environment.”
During her four years in the club, Morgan has written all sorts of articles—from sports season recaps to album reviews to Homecoming court coverage. However, Opinion and Editorial writing will always hold her heart.
As the Opinion editor for three years, Morgan went on to compete at a state level in Editorial writing at the PSPA State Competition this past March. After an hour-long press conference with Penn State Blue Band members and a timed writing competition, Morgan lived up to her title, placing first in the state for editorial writing.
“Competing in PSPA is always an awesome experience because it allows us to connect with other student journalists from across the Commonwealth,” Downing said. “I was honored to be named state champion at the competition, and it felt great being able to represent the Spotlight.”
In addition to the newspaper, Morgan is also an active member of many other Southern Lehigh clubs. As the vice president of the French Honor Society, co-president of No Place for Hate, and a member of the National Honor Society and Ecology Club, Morgan plays a large role in our school’s success. Morgan also volunteers for the Lehigh Valley Youth Council and is a student ambassador for CareerLink.
In her free time, Morgan enjoys traveling. Through Southern Lehigh’s annual international trips with EF Tours, she visited Italy this past summer and will travel to France this coming summer. Additionally, Morgan enjoys reading, listening to music, photography, and hiking. In fact, she set a life goal to hike all 63 national parks—so far, she’s at 11.
To get to where she is today, Morgan attributes much of her success to the support of her family, including her three role models: her dad for his work ethic, her mom for her creativity, and her grandfather for his kindness. Morgan also recognizes her French teacher, Madame Farley, and several English teachers, for leaving a lasting impact on her education and experience at Southern Lehigh.
“Madame Farley is one of the most supportive teachers I’ve ever had, and I will never forget her kindness,” Downing said. “Also, Mrs. Spritzer and many of my English teachers over the past few years have been crucial to my growth as a writer.”
Although leaving this chapter of her life behind is bittersweet, Morgan is thankful for all she experienced through high school—especially in journalism.
Of the four years she spent as part of the Spotlight staff, Morgan feels her favorite moments to look back on are the times spent with the other editors, whether that be collaborating in the publication lab, attending group field trips, or delivering copies of the newspaper to classrooms on distribution days.
Moving forward, she is excited to continue her education at Lehigh University, where she plans to continue her journalism involvement as a writer for “The Brown and White.” She hopes to one day obtain a career in communications, business, politics, or law.
As she wraps up her final days at Southern Lehigh, Morgan would like to leave a few words of advice for incoming students and underclassmen.
“It’s ok not to have your future all figured out yet,” Downing said. “Take time to explore your interests and discover what you’re passionate about. From there, things will start to fall into place.”
Tessa Di Cesare, Our World Editor
Senior Tessa Di Cesare is a second-year staff reporter and first-year Our World editor for “The Spotlight.” Throughout her time on the newspaper staff, she has dedicated much of her time and energy to ensuring the success of the publication.
Tessa decided to take Newspaper Journalism her junior year because she has always enjoyed writing. Before joining “The Spotlight,” she explored her interest in writing through diary entries and short stories. However, she never wrote fully developed articles. She knew Journalism would be the perfect challenge to hone her writing skills.
Tessa has been in the journalism program for two years and is grateful for the tight-knit community of students on the staff. Some of her favorite memories are sitting in the Publication Lab with the editors and working on the issue together. Along with the team camaraderie, Tessa has also enjoyed the Pennsylvania School Press Association (PSPA) student journalism competitions.
“Our annual PSPA regionals and states trip to Penn State are always super fun and memorable,” said Di Cesare. “I loved chatting the entire bus ride there, getting ice cream from the renowned Penn State Creamery, and getting to talk to all sorts of other publications’ staff reporters and editors.”
As a member of the class for two years, Tessa has written plenty of articles. Her favorite was an Our World article titled “Exploring the linkage between lead and the Stanley water bottles.” It discussed the risk of lead in Stanley water bottles and how customers were reacting to this recent news.
“I was super passionate about this topic, so I did lots and lots of research to ensure I could write a well-thought-out and informative article,” she said. “And even after the article was published, I got much positive feedback on it, which made it all the more memorable as one of my favorite articles of my journalism experience.”
When Tessa is not journalism, she is involved in many clubs such as National Honor Society, Spartan Ambassadors, Teen Counseling, Operation Smile, and Athletes Against Hunger. Being part of Teen Counseling has always been light-hearted and fun for her and she looks back fondly on their monthly trips to the middle school. Because she was part of the program as a middle school student, she feels like becoming a Teen Counselor is a full circle moment. Outside of school, she spends most of her free time volunteering at Lehigh Valley Humane Society and ACCT Philadelphia, where she walks, trains, and fosters shelter dogs.
Tessa is also a multi-sport athlete, running with the cross country team in the fall, and the track and field teams in the winter and spring. Throughout her four years as a Southern Lehigh athlete, she will have earned 11 varsity letters from her success. Along with her varsity letters she has had the privilege of being a two-time captain of the cross country team and a captain for the winter track and field team. Tessa has experienced challenges as an athlete, but she believes that the people around her make it worth it.
“When you go through something so physically and mentally challenging, like running, you are bound to bond with those going through the same thing alongside you,” Di Cesare said. “In my experience, ‘bond’ is an understatement. Being a part of these three sports throughout high school has not only given me lifelong friendships, but I’ve also developed leadership skills, a stronger work ethic, and so many incredible memories.”
Throughout high school, Tessa has learned from a lot of teachers and coaches, but one has impacted her life the most: Southern Lehigh track and field coach Mr. Cotie Strong, who is also our school psychologist.
“For two seasons a year, from the time I entered high school until now, Coach Strong has been my coach, and the true backbone of my success,” Di Cesare said. “I have gone through highs and lows as a student-athlete, and in any case of a mental block, Coach Strong has been there, supporting me, and pushing me to become the best version of myself— whether that’s on the track, or off of it.”
When Tessa graduates in May, she plans to attend the University of New Hampshire where she will major in Information Systems and Data Analytics, and minor in Marketing.
As Tessa reflects on the past four years she cannot encourage the underclassmen enough to put themselves out there. She urges them to join the clubs they are passionate about, take the class they’ve been wanting to take, and go to that football game.
“I guarantee you’ve all had at least one conversation with an adult or elder where they’ve expressed how much they loved high school and would love to be back in those years,” said Di Cesare. “Set yourself on a path to where you are able to reminisce on your high school experience, and feel that same feeling of nostalgia, rather than regret.”