Lansing High School student crowned queen
Kelly Barry, Lansing, was crowned queen at the 43rd annual Tonganoxie Invitational Basketball Tournament at Saturday’s game. Macaiah Spence, Oskaloosa, was named runner-up.
Six-year-old John Moley, Tonganoxie, carried the crown. He is the brother of Beth Knetter, a co-captain of the THS cheerleading squad. Barry was crowned by Ben Robbins, a former THS basketball player.
“I think it went really well,” said Brenda Meyer, THS cheerleading sponsor and crowning organizer. “We got a lot of compliments and things seemed to go pretty smoothly.”
Barry is a senior at Lansing High School. She has a 3.83 grade-point average and is a Kansas Honor Scholar. She is a member of the National Honor Society and the International Thespian Society. She participated in varsity cheerleading and drama club for four years, varsity cross country and varsity track one year and the international club two years. She is considering a major in mathematics, English, communications, theology or philosophy at college.
Spence is a senior at Oskaloosa High School. She has a 4.0 grade-point average and has been on the principal’s honor roll for four years. She’s the three-year secretary of the National Honor Society and has participated all four years in FBLA. She has received a letter for scholarship and track. She has received the perfect attendance and biology student of the year awards.
The queen was chosen by faculty at a Kansas City elementary school. They reviewed the candidates’ resumes and photographs and ranked them one through six.
“As far as I know, they spend very little time looking at their pictures,” Meyer said.
The school that judges rotates each year throughout the Kansas City area, according to Meyer.
She said she chose to give the sealed envelope to the principal without looking at it before the game.
“I stay completely out of it and I don’t even know until the queen’s crowned,” she said. “It just seems like it’s much more fair. Otherwise,