Saturday, March. 22, marked the second annual Mr. Railerman pageant. Two to three contestants from each grade competed head to head to see who would be crowned Mr. Railerman of 2019. Categories of the event included  talent, runway, and a lip sync battle against other grades.

Eleven students competed in this year’s competition and three finalists were crowned. Sophomore Eli Reddington took home the third place title while senior Seth Bontrager received second place. Junior Mikey Smith was crowned Mr. Railerman after receiving runner up in last year’s competition.

Freshman Jonah Remsberg was one of three freshman. Remsberg’s talent portion consisted of a juggling act.

“I thought it was pretty funny how I was on stage for [like] 10 seconds,” Remsberg said.

Smith went into the competition feeling scared, especially of the seniors. Smith felt confident in the talent portion. Smith showcased his talent by singing Love by Michael Bublé. Smith recalls singing at his sixth grade talent show and receiving praise from his peers.

“That’s where I knew I could sing and I just like singing. It shows my true emotions sometimes,” Smith said.

As a whole, Smith’s favorite part of the event was being backstage or in the drama room talking with the other contestants.

“There’s a lot of funny jokes happening back there,” Smith said.

The pageant is a fundraiser and admission cost $5, or $1 with a canned food item. Canned food will be donated to the food bank in Newton along with a portion of the costs earned from the event. Senior Kate Sebes planned the event with the help of other student council members. Although many groups worked to put the show together, the contestants were a large majority of the event.

“The contestants put so much work into it themselves so I have to give it to them because we wouldn’t have had a show without them,” Sebes said.