Story By Juan Garcia | Photos By Stephanie Escalante

Crowning the king and queen, serving beef, pork, rice, green beans, and cake, dancing, and honoring the ones that gave their life for the stars and stripes were all aspects of the ROTC  annual Military Ball on Jan. 8.

“The Military Ball is a formal dinner, where ROTC students can mingle,” Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Dallin Young said. “After the dinner there is a dance, where we get to relax and have fun.”

Before the dance, there is a a speech that is read to honor the fallen soldiers. Besides the dance, one of the most memorable moments of the night was when MSG Sandoval recited a poem about a young girl honoring her father’s death at war. Many students were moved and brought to tears.

“I cried,” Cadet Major Morgan Barnes said. “[The Military Ball] was fun, I saw my friends dressed up and dancing.”

Before the dance, ROTC crowns the year’s royalty. Dallin Young was crowned king and awarded a cape and crown. Morgan Barnes was crowned queen and awarded a crown and a bouquet of roses. Hannah Oliva was awarded sweetheart and Zack Peterson was awarded escort.

“I was very happy with myself,” Barnes said. “I won over all ROTC.”

Each class awarded a prince and a princess. In Alpha class, Ashton Kaminski and Whitney O’Connell were crowned. In Bravo class, Jordan Choate and Clarissa Rivera were crowned. In Charlie class, Nathaniel Landry and Claudia Castellanos were crowned. In Delta class, Jacob Prangner and Shirley Flores were crowned. In Echo class, Brandon Jackson and Courtney Boren were crowned. After all royalty was announced, the dance began and ROTC students danced the night away.

“The dance went well,” junior Samantha Moreno said. “It could have been better, but I liked it.”