On Friday, March 21, twelve senior boys competed in the annual Mr. Dartmouth pageant and after hard work and many long nights of practice, senior Austin Williams was crowned Mr. Dartmouth.

The top five contestants were Williams, Nick Chaves, Gerami Pacheco, Jacob Pereira, and Dave Thomas.

“It was really fun,” said Williams. “There was a lot of practice, but in the end it was well worth it.”

The senior boys competed in five categories together: casual wear, talent, swimsuit, and formal wear, and the five finalists were then asked the same question to determine who would take home the crown.

Judges were secretary Dona Flor, math teacher Don York, chemistry teacher Melissa Pavlik, and state senator Chris Markey.

The show was hosted by four senior girls, Allison Beauregard, Madysen Camara, Courtney Fox, and Ally Paiva. The girls were excellent entertainers and broke up the night by asking the audience questions about the contestants.

Mr. Dartmouth was made possible by the Class of 2015 and advisers Ann Fifield and Jeanne Flight. These teachers dedicated an enormous amount of time to help make the final product so successful. “There have been a lot of late nights, and yet the boys give off so much energy,” said Mrs. Flight. “I can honestly say I loved every minute of it and every kid involved.”

The show started off with a dance choreographed by physical education teacher Kathy Gaspar. The boys came out in baseball pants and took turns posing with a baseball bat, doing pushups for the audience, and dancing to Katy Perry’s “Roar.”

Next was casual wear where contestants showed off their everyday outfits while the hosts gave a glimpse of who the contestants really are. A slide show played in the background, and whenever baby pictures appeared, the audience awed in delight.

The talent portion came next, which is always a crowd favorite.

Nick Richard played guitar and sang while juniors Matt Jones and Jack Kenney played alongside him. Brendan Sullivan had a medley of talents where escorts, extras, and friends danced with him. Chaves played the trumpet and sang a song in Spanish while seniors Aaron Saraiva and Dan Monte played along with him with other instruments.

“Being able to embarrass myself in front of a bunch of people and having my wonderful girlfriend Courtni as my escort has made Mr. Dartmouth even more special,” said Chaves.

Colin Burke had a special guest for his medley of talents. He started off by playing tennis with tennis coach Steve Charest, answered his final Captain Colin question, and finally ripped off his clothes revealing a dress shirt and pants to play the cello. “It was an honor performing with Mr. Charest and made it even more memorable,” said Burke.

Other talents included Thomas playing the banjo while the auditorium sang along with him as he sang the popular country song, “Wagon Wheel.”

Drew Tisdale sang his favorite Japanese song that he translated into English, which was very impressive. Pacheco showed off his moves and danced with junior Abbey Wozniak and senior Amanda Phillips.

Like Phillips many senior girls found themselves very involved in the night’s events by both escorting a contestant and by performing with another contestant. “It was really fun,” said Phillips. “I get to do something I love and support someone who’s important to me all in one night.”

Noah Martins and his friends also showed off their moves in his talent titled “The Evolution of Dance” and Zach Borim got many laughs from the audience when he acted out a scene from Anchorman with other contestants. Christian Machado played his saxophone and danced with his extras in suspenders and high-waisted pants.

Pereira’s act received a standing ovation from the entire auditorium. He sang an original song called “Observations” in which he sang about the difficulty of trig and calculus, the pains of waiting for the crossing guard to let a car pass, and the airport security lines the school sets up. “Mr. Dartmouth is a great time to show people that we are much more than what people think, and we can showcase how great we really are,” said Pereira.

Now, the Mr. Dartmouth winner Williams was definitely one of the crowd’s favorites. He danced with five of his friends, showcasing their cultural backgrounds all at once. Not only was the dancing hilarious, but it also cast light on a very important message: people can come from different places and backgrounds, but can still be the best of friends.

The swimsuit section was by far the funniest and seeing the boys working together up on stage made it even better. Formal wear was lovely and each contestant dressed up in a tux while his escort met him in the center of the stage wearing a beautiful dress. The final five were then called and were asked the question, “If you could relive one event in your life, what would it be?”

Before the winner was announced, the contestants and escorts lined the stage together one final time.

The bond the boys now share from competing in Mr. Dartmouth is unbreakable and they will never forget the memories they made.

“A lot of us knew each other well already, but being together for these past few weeks made us all even closer,” said Williams.