“And the 2010 Homecoming Queen is,” the speaker announced, “…Junior, Katie Burleson.” On Tuesday October 19, Teague High School voted on their 2010 Homecoming Queen.

            “I was shocked [when I was crowned Queen]. I was happy, but so surprised,” Burleson exclaimed.

            Every other year the teachers nominate four students, two Juniors and two Seniors, to be candidates for the Homecoming Queen. The choice this year was between Juniors Haley Brown and Katie Burleson, and Seniors Sarah Waldrip and Maysel McSwane.

            “I was so surprised and honored to be nominated [as a Homecoming Queen candidate],” Burleson stated.

            Once the girls were told that they were nominees, they had four days to get everything together. It was stressful for most of the girls, with practices, school, and homework, to work all their appointments around their schedule, plus find a dress for the Friday night.

            “It would’ve been nice to have [had] more than four days, but everything ended up working out fine,” Burleson confessed.

            None of the candidates knew who the winner was until everyone else found out, during halftime of the Homecoming Game. They had to walk out onto the field not knowing whether they were going to be crowned Queen.

            “What was going through my mind as I walking onto the field for the results was that no matter who won, I was just happy to get nominated,” Burleson said.

            The Homecoming Queen nominees were able to vote themselves for who they wanted to be crowned. That may have been a hard decision, since of course they wanted to win, but may not have wanted to vote for themselves.

            “I actually voted for Sarah when we voted. I love her to death and I think she would’ve made a great Queen,” Burleson reported.

            Every Homecoming year, the Homecoming Queen from two years before gets to crown the new Homecoming Queen. This year Keisha Hill, the 2008 Homecoming Queen, got to crown Burleson. Burleson gets to crown the next Homecoming Queen, in 2012.

            “I am excited [to be able to crown the 2012 Homecoming Queen]. I think it will be fun to be involved with the court another time,” Burleson revealed.