On Sept. 24, 2021, during the homecoming game, JFK announced Anusha Nayak as Homecoming Queen. 

The student body and staff nominated the candidates, and the school selected the final five to represent JFK at the homecoming game against Cranford. Madyson Blackman, Anusha Nayak, Stephanie Yu, Sneha Saravan and Michelle Solano were the final nominees chosen. During the halftime, the Homecoming Queens walked out with their escorts. Chalsea Ilagan notably escorted Anusha out. After waiting a suspenseful couple of minutes, the 2021 Homecoming Queen was announced as Anusha Nayak. Despite the student body finding it slightly hard to hear the announcement of the winner, Anusha heard plenty of cheers from the student section on the bleachers.

Anusha explained her experience, feelings and why she ran for Homecoming Queen.

“… when we were online [virtual] last year, we didn’t get to do too many school events, and so I wanted to be more involved because it’s our last year at school, so I figured I could just run and… participate in more school stuff,” Anusha stated. “I really didn’t expect to win… I told my friends about it and I was still unsure about running itself, but they were really encouraging so I figured to go through with it, and… I was really shocked when it happened. It felt like … everything was going by so fast and it was kind of a blur and then I heard … my name and I was still confused. I was still trying to figure out, like, did they say I was a runner up? Or you know, what happened, so I was really shocked but I’m really thankful for everybody who voted for me.” 

Anusha is very involved amongst the student body at JFKMHS. She is a participant of the guitar club, Junior State of America, High School Democrats of America, and Chinese Club. Additionally, she is a member of two honors societies: National Honors Society and National English Honors Society. She is an active member of student council, and is on the school’s varsity basketball and track team. 

Congratulations to Anusha and the other candidates!