Mr. Fenton competition renamed Battle of the Sexes
May 22, 2018
Move over Mr. Fenton, a new winner is in town. On May 17, sophomore Olivia Battaglia was crowned the first Ms. Fenton. After large female interest and the desire to be more inclusive, the annual Mr. Fenton competition was renamed The Battle of the Sexes.
“I’ve been here at Fenton High School for 13 years,” drama teacher Lori Thompson said. “Before me, and then Ruby Zima before her established Mr. Fenton. Mr. Fenton has been a long lasting tradition here at Fenton High School, but as the years have progressed more and more girls have wanted to participate and with the larger world moving to a me too, equality women rights, it became ‘why not?’ Let’s make this the year we incorporate women into it as well.”
Although girls were able to enter the competition, the categories and the way the judges scored contestants stayed the same. Students competed in five categories: casual wear, formal wear, entertainment, “Best in Shorts”, and questions from the hosts. Students are free to do and wear what they want in each category, allowing them to showcase their personality to the judges.
“I chose my outfit just for fun,” senior Joie Raymond said. “I have a lot of different styles that I wear so I incorporated that into the diversity between the categories and I chose to sing for my talent because it’s pretty much the only talent I have other than acting. I definitely forgot the words to my song even though I just sang it for my senior solo at the Ambassadors concert the weekend before.”
The “Best in Shorts” category winner was sophomore Annie Hayes. To win “Best in Shorts” contestants’ escorts went into the lobby and tried to raise the most money. All money raised goes to the Ruby Zima Scholarship which is awarded to one student who is going into theater arts after high school.
“It’s a very amusing category,” Hayes said. “Winning such a goofy title was very funny to me, and it’s something I won’t soon forget. My band friends were a very big help, especially Joe Fehir for putting his entire wallet in my money collection bag. I think my escort, Matt made a big difference in me winning, I hear he really campaigned for me in the lobby.”
Making an appearance during the scooby-doo skit, 2017 Mr. Fenton winner Brendan Triola played the role of the villian.
Four judges from the Fenton community were asked to judge this year’s competition. As they were watching each act, the judges were looking for certain qualities in each contestant.
“In a contestant I want to see them be genuinely themselves,” Jenna Wodjula said. “How much have they learned outside of the school day, and what they push themselves to do to that makes them an individual.”
As the competition came to a close Battaglia took first place, Raymond placed second, junior Alexandra Marsee placed third and Hayes won Best in Shorts.
“It is great to be the first Ms.Fenton,” Battaglia said. “I had so much fun and am very thankful for the experience.”
