*Written By Jaiden Capozzolo

Students gathered in the Craig Payne Theatre for the ninth annual Super Slater event held by National Honor Society to see Tim Ferguson and Billy Dorish take top honors on May 12.

The competition featured eight talented seniors: Viktoria Swanson, Connor Platia, Tim Ferguson, Shane O’Leary, Samantha Ordonez, Billy Dorish, Aron Furman and Chad Schafer. The judges table included Mrs. Harris, Mr. Vidumsky, Mr. Madden, Mr. Perelli, and Ms. Tuerff. The event was advised and MC’d by fan favorite, Mr. Weaver.

The event kicked off with the formal wear portion combined with a questionnaire. This is where contestants have the opportunity to show off their fashion sense while answering questions to prove their brain power to rack up their points. Some students like Ferguson, Platia, Dorish and Schafer sported a tuxedo while others like O’Leary wore a simple dress shirt and bow tie.

Following the questionnaire was everyone’s favorite, the talent portion. This year was filled with unique talents including stand-up comedy, singing, instrument playing, and music video parodies. One fan favorite was Samantha Ordonez who shocked the crowed by singing/screaming her favorite heavy metal song “Pray for Plagues” by Bring me the Horizon.

“I wasn’t too nervous because the crowd wasn’t very big and I was going to have fun with it. I started screaming freshman year so I’ve been used to it. Super Slater was my first time doing it again since then,” Ordonez said. “I chose this talent because I wanted to do something that people wouldn’t expect and surprise everyone.”

Super Slater concluded with a final fashion show featuring Slater gear and a final interview question.

All of the seniors who participated had loads of talent, smarts, and fashion sense which made it hard for judges to come to a final decision. After the competition came to a close and judges tallied up their scores, Tim Ferguson who was crowned Super Slater and Billy Dorish was runner-up.

Super Slater, Tim Ferguson, won the judges over with his rendition of “Cletus Take the Reel”, a parody of “Jesus Take the Wheel” created by comedian Tim Hawkins. Ferguson got on stage with his boat and fishing reel and gave the skit his all with best friend, Matthew Schipps.

“The hardest part of my skit was finding a ‘Cletus’ but I think Matt portrayed the part very well,” Ferguson said. “Being crowned Super Slater is an achievement I will honor forever. I can hold this title high and will be sure to bring it up at family gatherings and talk about how much better I am to my entire family.”

Super Slater 2017 was certainly an exciting show and a great way to kick-off prom day festivities.