Top Knight created to be more inclusive

For this school year, the annual Mr. GNHS has changed to Top Knight in hopes of continuing the school’s ideas of being inclusive to all.
“The National Honor Society thought the show would be more fun and inclusive if females and males were allowed to participate, especially since there are many females that would love to showcase their talents and raise money for charity; therefore, changing the name to Top Knight signifies that the show is open to anyone and everyone that wants to participate,” said senior Kelli Tosic.
Students and teachers both hope that Top Knight will bring more involvement into the school with the changes they have made to the contest this year.
“I hope it will get students involved who might not have before or just maybe more people may be interested in checking out how the show has changed and what sort of fun new things will happen because of the changes in the show,” said NHS sponsor Erin Wise.
“Since Top Knight includes both guys and girls, it opens it up for there to be a lot more school spirit since it’s not a guy only thing. Some people didn’t want to go because their friends weren’t in it, but now there’s a wide range of contestants, so it’ll definitely give people a reason to cheer for someone they know because there will be at least one person they know or have seen around school,” said senior Bryan Donaire.
Students also decide to participate in the contest to join in the entertainment and to represent a chosen charity that they want to support.
“I am a contestant on Top Knight since I am in National Honor Society, and I decided to get involved because I love performing and am passionate about the charity I am representing, the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA). I am very excited to raise money for and awareness about GLASA and can’t think of a better way to do it than through performing,” Tosic said.
“I decided to take part in Top Knight as one of the contestants. Given my energetic and ‘extra’ personality, I believe I’ll put on a good show for the crowd. I got involved through an invitation from the hosts of the show, but I always wanted to be able to join the fun for [Top Knight],” Donaire said.
There are also many ways that students can get involved in Top Knight no matter what grade they’re in. National Honor Society wants to help with student involvement and being able to showcase what other students can do.
“Anyone has the ability to get involved, but it’s run through the National Honor Society. So that’s the group that will be selling tickets outside the cafeteria. That’ll be the group that is really promoting it in the school and really trying to get people to sign up, but the participants are not necessarily members of National Honor Society and their helpers aren’t necessarily members of National Honor Society. By coming and being a member of the audience, you’re helping; you’re donating to charity, so you’re participating too,” Wise said.
The competition will include activities such as dances and singing, and Top Knight will take place in the black box theater on November 15, at 7:00 p.m.