photos Kathryn Chamberlain
l to r: Lyons, Buncher, Coates, McLennan, Aaron, Seccia, Dozier, Barbee, West, Vest, Curtis, Sommers, and Brown
Continuing the tradition, the 14th annual Mr. Mills E. Godwin pageant took place on Saturday, Jan. 20. All of the money from ticket sales was donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that helps grant wishes to children with life-threatening diseases.
Participating in the pageant for the first time, senior Nick Aaron was crowned Mr. MG as he represented the Football team. Other participants included seniors Devin Barbee, Henry Brown, Ben Coates, Jeremy Curtis, Sid Nimmalagadda, and Jack Sommers, juniors Michael Buncher, James Dozier, Patrick Lyons, Lachlan McLennan, Andrew Seccia, and Davis West, and freshmen Ethan Vest.
The pageant consisted of an opening dance, a character round, a talent round, and a question round. Beginning after the character round, four participants are eliminated until the final five are selected. The judges this year consisted of retired Godwin Spanish teacher Sharron Northrop, longtime custodian Thomas Threatt, and the Make-A-Wish representative Abby Quinn.
The pageant was hosted by P.E teacher Mark Brandenburger and SCA officers Luke Fowler, Devon Furash, and Erika Reiter.
Character Round
For the character round, the boys chose different characters and were judged on both their execution and creativity.
Aaron started the round with a reenactment of the “Ew” segment from The “Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon along with science teacher Bishop Bosher.
Barbee followed with a parody based upon a “Saturday Night Live” skit regarding the Avatar font, Papyrus.
Next, Brown danced the night away as Napoleon Dynamite to “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai.
After, Buncher read mean tweets like Jimmy Fallon does on the “Tonight Show” including #momtexts; tweets aimed at making fun of moms trying to text their children.
Next came Coates, who reenacted the infamous commercial for Flex Tape. Coates pitched the tape by demonstrating that it can fix anything from plastic cups to relationships.
Following Coates, Curtis took on the character of Godwin math teacher Daniel Wallace. Slouched back in his chair, Curtis speedily presented notes to the class.
Dozier took on the role of Karate Kid as he starred in a short film in which he was made fun of by a bully named Kyle for exploring his passion for birds. At the end of the film, Dozier, or Karate Kid, defeated his enemy with a mix of martial arts. Following the video, Dozier returned to the stage to teach fellow Junior Collin Gray some karate moves.
Lyons followed with a dance called “The Scarn” from the television show “The Office”, with Lyons taking on the role of Michael Scott.
McLennan played the role of the adventure seeker, Steve Irwin. From describing the characteristics of sloths to tackling an alligator, McLennan took nature by storm.
Nimmalagadda, or Bob Ross, taught the crowd how to paint a scenery consisting of sky, water, and trees.
Seccia and West collaborated in the character round, presenting a short film about laser cats to two movie producers, senior Erika Reiter and History teach Rebecca Martino. When the film was shot down by the movie producers, Seccia and West stormed off stage saying that the movie producers simply did not understand their talent.
Sommers followed, playing the part of a classic dad. While laid back in a recliner, the classic dad was asked questions by his kid (Nimmalagadda) answering with stereotypically dad sayings .
Finishing off the round, Ethan Vest took on the role of Caillou; a character from a well-known children’s show. Looking identical to the character, wearing a red baseball hat, a yellow shirt, and blue shorts, Vest preformed the show’s theme song.
After the character portion of the pageant concluded, the judges revealed who was moving onto the talent portion. The judges put through Aaron, Brown, Buncher, Coates, Dozier, McLennan, Seccia, and West.
Talent Round
Remaining contestants were required to showcase their best talents in order to move on to the question round.
Aaron started the round by playing piano. Starting with simpler classics, Aaron transitioned into playing popular songs such as “Hotline Bling” by Drake and “Redbone” by Childish Gambino.
Following Aaron, Brown sang an original remix of the song “Hey Soul Sister” by Train regarding recent snow days. Brown pretended to play the ukulele along to the song showcasing his instrumental talents.
Next, Buncher performed a self-choreographed dance to the song “Can’t Sleep Love” by Pentatonix along with junior Claire Ellsworth.
Coates followed, bringing the Godwin Pep Band on stage to display his instrumental talents. Not only is Coates a member of the pep band, but he was representing them at the pageant.
Dozier threw on his clout goggles and played the well-known song “Hot Cross Buns” on the recorder.
McLennan showed his skills as a mindreader. He started the act with his mom on stage choosing three colors to color on a paper. When she was finished coloring, McLennan asked her to open a box that revealed a paper with the exact colors she had chosen. Next, McLennan invited fellow juniors Liam Deegan and Ethan Joynt to the stage for his next demonstration. Deegan was asked to compare superman to a teacher at Godwin. After answering P.E. teacher Gary Steele, McLennan asked Deegan to open the box on the ground. When the box was empty the audience’s faces were full of confusion until McLennan took off one of his shirts to reveal a white T-shirt labeled “Steele”. Ethan Joynt was then asked what his favorite animal from the Steve Irwin Safari video presented earlier in the show and after answering with the sloth, a box was opened and a stuffed animal sloth was found.
Add in seccia, he sang the wii song with west and Joe’s little brother
West concluded the talent round with his well-known talents in magic. West performed many tricks, including making liquid appear in an empty can.
Following the talent round, the top five finalists were announced. The finalists were Aaron, Brown, Buncher, Coates, and West.
Final Round
The question round was next, ranging from “what is your biggest fear” to “why do you want to be Mr. MG?”
After all of the finalists answered their question, the judges collaborated to decide the winner, while the audience watched a video on the making of Mr. MG. After the judges had made their decision, the finalists and all other contestants took the stage. The five finalists stepped forward as the winners were announced.
The results were as follows: Henry Brown as fourth runner-up, Ben Coates as third runner-up, Davis West as second runner-up, Michael Buncher as first runner-up, and finally, the winner of Mr. MG, Nick Aaron.
