Kiski students chosen for an opportunity at Homecoming Queen

And the homecoming queen is? On Friday, September 19, six lovely girls will be waiting in anticipation to find out whether their name is announced over Davis Football Field's loudspeaker. Every year it is a tradition at Kiski Area High School to crown one best all around girl. This year the court of six finalists, in many eyes, is one of the hardest decisions to make. The senior class of 2004 filled out their ballot deciding the ultimate decision of who was going to be their queen. As you can see by the short biographies below, each lucky senior has certainly fulfilled all of the requirements for this prestigious honor. Lena Tobin, Shawna Montogomery, Melissa Kownacki, Koree Kurkowski, Adrienne Tallarom, and Kelly Shaffer have been elected to serve on the 2003-2004 homecoming court. All of these wonderful girls are involved academically and in their communities.

Lena Tobin juggles teaching gymnastics not only for her job, but also out of the pure enjoyment of instructing young girls. In school, she enjoys being the president of SADD club and participates in Red Ribbon Club, student council, and has been a class officer for many years. When winter comes around, she will be diving into the position of Kiski's swimming captain. Lena lives in Allegheny Township with her parent Jeff and Chris Tobin and her brother Evan Tobin. She also attends the St. Margaret Mary's Catholic Church.

On school nights and weekends, Shawna Montgomery works vigorously at South Pike Cinemas. When she is not busy working the food stand, she volunteers in the Key Club as its secretary. She is also in Student Council, French, Pride, Red Ribbon, Bible, and SADD Clubs. When spring rolls around, she also partakes in Kiski Area's softball team. Shawna lives in Allegheny Township with her parents Larry and Eileen and her sister Melissa. She attends the Leechburg Presbyterian Church.

Melissa Kownacki is a busy young lady in her spare time. With Pride, SADD, and Key Club, she does not have a lot of time on her hands. Also, after school she likes working at Leechburg Pharmacy for a part time job during the school year. Not only that, Melissa has had the blessing of being inducted into Kiski's highly esteemed National Honors Society. Through this, she is expected to keep her 3.5 and above grade point average and volunteer for things such as Meals on Wheels. Melissa lives in Parks Township with her parents Debbie and Jim and her two sisters Erica and Jessica. Her family actively attends Christ the King Catholic Church.

Koree Kurkowski is definitely a sparkling and dynamic young women. Dancing six days a week no wonder she's had many renowned honors in just 17 short years of her life. She won Miss West Coast Dance Explosion and competed in Nationals in Las Vegas. When she's not in her jazz shoes, she consumes her time in Pride and SADD clubs in school. And, she still manages to make time for her academics. She always maintains her high grade point average, no wonder her parents Bonnie and Carl are so proud of her. Koree lives in Washington Township and attends the Rolling Hills Baptist Church.

Last year a young women named Adrienne Tallarom was selected for a great honor. She was asked to take part of the program at the Westinghouse Science Honors Institute. Aside from that, she has also been inducted into the National Honor Society. She takes pride in her academics and maintaining her scholastic achievements. She also contributes her time in Red Ribbon, French, SADD, Oldies, and Pride Club. She lives with her parents Paul and Debbie and also has two sisters Lindsey and Jenna, whom attend Saint Gertrude's Catholic Church in Vandergrift.

Being the captain of her track and swimming team, Kelly Shaffer is another great athlete on the homecoming court. Kelly works hard to maintain her physical stamina to direct her teams. For a part time career, she works at and participates in the gymnastics program at the Allegheny Valley YMCA. She also is occupied in the SADD and German clubs. In addition to all of these activities, she also takes delight in her schoolwork. Kelly and her parents Carla and Larry partake vigorously in their church, the First United Methodist Church in Leechburg.

These young women are very excited to find out who the winner is going to be. Having to wait a week and a half to tally the ballot votes, these girls are defiantly ready to find out. Make sure you look in the October edition of the Alle-Kiski Today paper to find out what lucky girl won!