By Brooke O’Bryant

Contributing Writer

    

RESERVE – “And your 2012 homecoming queen is…” These are the words most young girls in high school dream of hearing, and for Kelsey Joseph, a senior at Riverside Academy in Reserve, this dream became reality.

Last week, Joseph was voted for by fellow classmates to not only become homecoming queen, but to also make history. She became the first African-American girl to become a Rebel homecoming queen.

“It took a moment for me to realize that my name was the one called, and I was so full of joy,” said Joseph.

Dr. Rhonda Perkins, the assistant principal at Riverside Academy, says she is proud of the example Joseph sets.

“Kelsey is a beautiful girl and a very good student,” said Perkins.

Joseph is highly involved in Rebel athletics, where she is a four-year letterman on the girls’ basketball team, a three-year letterman on the girls’ softball team and is also a member of the track team. But her extracurricular actives don’t stop at athletics; she is also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and involved in the choir.

Each year for homecoming, Riverside Academy senior football players are allowed to nominate one senior maid for homecoming court. From there, the student body votes for the queen. It was Jonquial Jamal Sanders who elected Joseph.

“I feel so honored to have been chosen as this year’s queen and appreciate the faith the student body had in me,” said Joseph.

Tammy Cox, Joseph’s mother, said she was full of surprise and joy when her daughter was announced as the 2012 homecoming queen.  

“I’m so proud of her. I just kept telling her to have fun and enjoy the moment,” said Cox.

And enjoy the moment is exactly what Kelsey Joseph did.

“I love my school and admire that I am judged based on my character and not on anything else,” she said.

After being crowned, Joseph sat in the stands and watched her beloved school beat J.S. Clark — a perfect ending to a perfect night.