On the evening of March 16, the Gorham High School (GHS) auditorium was packed full of students and parents, all there for what could be coined as the must-see event of the second semester.

The annual Mr. GHS pageant was held again this year as a fundraiser for the Class of 2018, and the contestants didn’t disappoint. Each senior had to take part in multiple portions of the competition, including casual wear, random questions, talent, and formal wear.

The questions, prepared ahead of time by hosts Jessica Dusseault, Emma Cousins, and Kate Gilbert, were unknown to the contestants and had to be answered on the spot. Andrew Harjula, who ended up placing second overall in the competition, was asked what he would put on the ideal ice cream sundae.

He replied “hot sauce.” When the crowd began to laugh, he fixed his response. “Hot chocolate sauce,” he emphasized. The other questions ranged from, “What is your opinion on climate change?” (asked of Garrett Higgins, who placed third overall), “What would you title a book about you?” and, finally, asked of Stefan Street, who placed first and was crowned Mr. GHS, “If tomorrow’s newspaper headline was about you, what would it say?”

Street, clad in his casual wear wetsuit and holding a surfboard, replied, “Boy attacked by shark fights back, and wins.”

After each contestant answered their questions, the boys moved on to the talent portion, with numerous highlights. Nate Hotham performed a free-style dance, Aaron Farr and Ben Nelson donned rollerblades, and Babou Gatete played the drum expertly while Max Harvey shockingly smashed apples off of his forehead to Babou’s beat.

Harjula and Clayton Bassingthwaite donned tutus to perform a “beach ball ballet,” Higgins wooed the audience with his saxophone playing, and Street sang along while strumming the ukulele.

After the talent portion, the boys were each escorted in by an important female in their life, including mothers, grandmothers, and younger sisters, while in their formal wear. Then, they all lined up on the stage for the crowning of Mr. GHS, which was determined based on scoring by the panel of judges.