By Ayla Dickerson
The 2025 Mardi Gras Court, announced on January 13, honors forty seniors who have dedicated their time and talents to McNicholas High School and the surrounding community. Sunday, February 16, will celebrate 73 years of the annual Mardi Gras Pageant and Ball where these 40 seniors and 16 honor guard members from the sophomore and junior classes will be recognized.
According to the McNicholas website, the Sisters of St. Joseph, the founders of McNicholas, brought the Mardi Gras tradition from New Orleans to their new home here at McNicholas. The first Mardi Gras Pageant and Ball was held in 1953, and each February since, McNicholas has honored that tradition by celebrating the brilliance of sophomores, juniors, and seniors and their commitment to service.
Mardi Gras is a party full of pageantry, entertainment, royalty, and dancing. The first Mardi Gras was a thank you to students for their help in running a successful raffle, but in addition to the tradition of Mardi Gras, the Sisters of St. Joseph also established a legacy of service and so, as Lent approaches each year, McNicholas throws a party that recognizes students’ character, leadership, and service to the community.
To be elected to Honor Guard and Senior Court, students must first be nominated by their peers and for freshmen and sophomores, be involved in at least two activities at McNicholas and for juniors and seniors, three activities to earn a nomination. Those nominated are then voted for by peers and faculty/staff. Votes accumulate over all four years and the young man and young woman earning the second highest votes as seniors are named Captain of the Ball and Maid of Honor, respectively. The king and queen are not announced until the night of the pageant. This year’s Captain and Maid are seniors Tyler Munzel and Katie Noble.
Q&A with the Maid of Honor: Katie Noble
Q: Describe what you were feeling and thinking in the moment when they announced your name as Maid of Honor of the Ball.
A: “I was definitely very excited and low key nervous. I was in my stats class with Mrs. Brothers, and I was struggling to hear the names, but then I heard my name, and I got excited”
Q: What do you consider to be your major achievement at McNick?
A: “Being senior class president and the 200 hours of service I have completed through McNick-related activities, and other events such as the Sem Haven Senior Prom and the Appalachia Service Retreat.
Q: What advice do you have to underclassmen about service to McNick and the greater community?
A: “Really just get involved and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there to do service.”
Q: How did you feel when you heard Tyler’s name announced as the Captain of the Ball?
A: Tyler is a great pick for Captain of the Ball and is very deserving of the title.
Q: Looking ahead, what good do you hope to have left at McNick after graduation?
A: “Really, I hope I just made it a better place and that other students who come after I graduate can become involved and make an impact the same way I have at McNick.
Q: What are your plans after high school?
A: “I am attending Bowling Green State University and plan on majoring in journalism.”
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add or include while you have the “stage”?
A: “I am just grateful to have this title of Maid of Honor of the Ball. Mardi Gras has always been a big part of my life. I was a page when I was younger and have attended every ceremony since I was two.”
Q&A with the Captain of the Ball: Tyler Munzel
Q: Describe what you were feeling and thinking in the moment when they announced your name as Captain of the Ball.
A: “I was immediately surprised, and I’ll be honest — I was thinking about how the Captain of the Ball has to walk all the girls out.”
Q: What do you consider to be your major achievement at McNick?
A: “I would say one major achievement would be connecting with people and building a community here over the past four years. I started out my freshman year as the only person from my grade school, which I ultimately think was a good thing, and I’m proud for stepping out of my comfort zone.”
Q: What advice do you have to underclassmen about service to McNick and the greater community?
A: “Develop your passions and pursue them and you will be fulfilled in that. You’ll find people you like being around and you feel energized by, and you’ll be doing good work if you just follow what you are passionate about.”
Q: How did you feel when you heard Katie’s name announced as the Maid of Honor of the court”
A: “I thought that made sense, and I was happy for her. We were both [part of] Sophomore Honor Guard, so it made sense. It will be fun to be at the practices with her.”
Q: Looking ahead, what good do you hope to have left at McNick after graduation?
A: “I feel like every year people come and go, so I just hope the underclassman follow what they are passionate about and let that guide them to acts of service.”
Q: What are your plans after high school?
A: “I’m going to go to Notre Dame to study civil engineering. I would like to study abroad at some point and hopefully after that get a job in transportation engineering and designing infrastructure to reduce our dependence on cars.”
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add or include while you have the “stage”?
A: “Mardi Gras is a cool event, a lot of history. It’s archaic, but it’s sometimes fun to humor the traditions as old as they are”
Women of the Court
Julia Cheek, Katie Claes, Kennedy Dehner, Kenzie Dehner, Francie Goff, Evie Hurlburt, Kennedy Kramer, Megan Longmore, Hayden Minnich, Lila Moeves, Addy Must, Lily Must, Katie Noble, Grace Reuss, Lucy Rudolph, Lynn Sandmann, Olivia Stein, Ellie Suttles, Jordan Wheatley, Maia Zeilman.
Men of the Court
Braden Bobo, Jack Brinck, Jonathan Byrum, Alex Dalton, JR Daniels, Michael Egan, Brady Gardner, A.J. Gundler, Jacob Gundrum, Eli Holland, Matthew Irvine, Ben Jones, Jack Kamphaus, Billy Meltebrink, Tyler Munzel, Dylan Nguyen, Eric Reinhart, Carson Schisler, Noel Shelly, Bo Tobin.
Junior Honor Guard
Natalie Cox, Ryan Dorr, Olivia Dorschug, Ryan Moss, Lauren Radtke, Louis Smith, Lucinda Thompson, Kaelin Timko
Sophomore Honor Guard
Audrey Ackerman, Tessa Calcitrai, Molly Dornheggen, Connor Longbottom, Connor Powderly, Trey Spitzmiller, Josie Suttles, Sam Whitcomb
The McNicholas Milestone 