Central High School’s 2022 Homecoming King and Queen were announced on Friday, October 7th.  Out of the many prominent candidates that participated, the titles of King and Queen were given to Tyson Dean and Lakiyah Byrd. 

Lakiyah is a part of the National Honor Society, Beta Club, Influencer Group, and varsity cheerleader marking her first year as a part of Central’s cheerleader team. She has been awarded the Academic Excellence Award from 2019-2022 and continues to strive. Lakiyah has volunteered to help the elderly, to give back to the unfortunate, and to help with the Chargerpoolza at Brown Middle School. Although Lakiyah is undecided on where to attend college, no matter where she goes she wants to pursue a career as a Criminal Investigator or Psychologist.

Ms. Byrd says that it was a great honor for her to win because she wasn’t expecting it to be awarded to her. She says that all the girls were winners to her and it wasn’t about the win. Tears of joy came to her when they announced her name. She says it was so surprising knowing that many people actually messed with her and voted for her. 

“ I didn’t expect to win at all, but a lot of people kept telling me they were voting for me and that i was going to win but i doubted myself, so when they did announce my name as the winner i was so shocked and cried tears of joy, not knowing that many people actually messed with me was so surprising . But overall it was a very exciting moment that I will always remember. Honestly that was never part of the plan, i didn’t choose to run so when i was nominated i was really surprised.  Yes, I plan on running for miss central later this year.  It’s very honorable to know people actually support me and it really made it 10x better.  It was never all about the win, all of the girls on the homecoming court were winners to me, and we all deserved it. Being a part of such a moment meant so much to me, and I appreciate everyone who supported me“ shared Lakiyah.

Tyson Dean was a member of the JROTC Raider program for his first two years at Central and received multiple awards for his efforts. He has played varsity soccer all 4 years at Central and has academic excellence to be very proud of. While at Central, he has been a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club, and has maintained either star or honor roll throughout his high school career. He is a member of the yearbook club and does some photography for the school and its grounds.

Mr. Dean says that it was a really good feeling to know that the support of his family and friends were there to see him win. He didn’t run for homecoming or tell anyone to vote for him, people just chose his name. He also says that it brung him more confidence to know that the school thinks of him in such a way. 

“Overall, it’s a great feeling, it makes me happy all of my friends and family were able to come and support me. To be honest, I didn’t even necessarily run, I didn’t tell anybody to vote for me or anything, I guess people just happened to put my name down.  I actually do plan on running for Mr. Central  It’s a great feeling, just knowing that the school thinks of me in such a way makes me happy and brings me more confidence in myself.  I would just like to say that every guy and girl who was on the court deserved to win just as much as I did and they are all amazing people who I’m glad I got to experience that night with” share’s Tyson Dean 

Principal Iannarone describes what it means to be homecoming King or Queen: “Each year our seniors decide by vote, who will represent their class as Homecoming King and Queen. This is an honor with a long-standing tradition during a school’s homecoming season.”