[vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/87395224″ width=”640″ height=”360″]  
At halftime Friday night, spirits were high. The Lady Bruins were leading Miller Career Academy 42-25 in the night’s basketball game, seemingly unstoppable. But when halftime came around, the excitement only surged; it was time to announce RBHS’ 2014 Courtwarming King. The ten king nominees filed onto the gym with their escorts — dolled up, grinning and nervous. When senior Brayden Parker’s name was announced as the school’s 2014 Courtwarming King, the sound was deafening.
“When it was announced that I had won I was really stunned,” Parker said. “I kind of looked around and didn’t know what to do so I just tried to remember to smile. Which I suppose wasn’t hard because it is exciting that I won. I was also a little uncomfortable, but having my escort with me and all those other guys and their escorts out there on the floor … it wasn’t too bad.”
Senior Tanner Cranford, another nominee for king, said regardless of who won, the experience of Courtwarming week will always be something special to him.
“[I’ll remember] that I was on court with such an awesome group of guys,” Cranford said. “Just being able to spend a week hanging out with them, dressing up and acting like idiots. It was an honor to be selected for court along with them and a blast to get to know them better throughout the week.”
Parker agreed that though the whole week was exciting, the best part was spending time with the other nominees and their escorts, who he said were “10 guys and 10 girls who are genuinely good people that represent Rock Bridge as best as anyone can.”
He believed these people and this week have truly made his senior year a memorable one.
“I would say that being king and being on court will definitely be a memorable part of my senior year. The experiences and the people will be things that are important for me to remember,” Parker said. “More than anything, though, being on court is just a reminder of the whole senior year. It’s really a celebration of everyone’s accomplishments at this school represented by 10 guys and girls. So to be considered as a part of that is a great part of senior year but really just a snapshot of the whole high school experience.”
By Urmila Kutikkad
Video by Brianne Arnett