Copperas Cove Homecoming King, Queen, and 2021 Court to be crowned Friday evening

By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Bulldawgs will play the Belton Tigers tonight in the 2021 Homecoming Game. 
Prior to the game, Homecoming ceremonies will be held at 7 p.m., when this year’s Homecoming Court will take the field in their finest attire.
The nominated students gathered Tuesday afternoon for photos in the hallway outside CCHS Activities Coordinator Amal Baty’s office. Baty watched with pride as the students posed for the different photos. 
“This is very exciting,” Baty said. “It’s so nice to see how excited the kids are, how anxious they are, how they vote for each other, how they come back and forth and say ‘Mrs. Baty, do you know anything? Do you need anything?’ I’m proud of all of them. They are awesome. God bless them and good luck to them!”
Competing for the crown for Homecoming Queen this year are seniors Emma MacDonald, Alexis Butler and Kayla Zamora. 
MacDonald is sponsored by the CCHS DECA chapter. She is the daughter of Samantha Byers and Billy MacDonald, who will be escorting her at tonight’s game. After graduation, MacDonald plans to attend the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor to earn her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, specializing in Emergency Care to go on to become an ER nurse. 
Butler is sponsored by the CCHS FFA chapter. She is the daughter of Allison Butler, who will be escorting her at tonight’s game. After graduation, Butler plans to attend the University of Texas- San Antonio to study sports management and pursue either a career as a sports broadcaster or in Agribusiness. 
Zamora is sponsored by the CCHS TAFE chapter. She is the daughter of Evelin and Juan Zamora, who will be escorting her at tonight’s game. After graduation, Zamora plans to attend UMHB to major in Early Education and pursue a career as a 2nd grade teacher. 
Competing to be Homecoming King this year are John Gorres, Aleczander Patterson and Chandler Gastelo. 
Gorres is sponsored by the CCHS Band. He is the son of Jeff and Teresa Gorres, who will be escorting him at tonight’s game. After graduation, he plans to attend either the University of North Texas or Texas State University to get a degree in Sports Journalism and Analytics to pursue a career as a sports analyst and journalist. 
Patterson is sponsored by the CCHS Football team. He is the son of Tracy and Joseph Patterson, who will be his escorts at tonight’s game. After graduation, he plans to go to college to become a Doctor of Chiropractic. 
Gastelo is sponsored by the CCHS DECA chapter. He is the son of Angelique and Gabriel Gastelo, who will be escorting him at tonight’s game. After graduation, he plans to attend Texas A&M University to study architectural engineering. 
This year’s junior court includes Emily Kimball as the Freshman Duchess, Alexia Lewis as the Sophomore Duchess and Danna Zaragoza as the Junior Duchess. 
This year’s Homecoming Court includes a Baron and Contessa again. These are students from the high school’s Special Education Department. 
This year’s Contessa is junior Lexus Yoma, daughter of Nerine Miller who will also be escorting her at tonight’s game. 
Yoma wants to be an artist. She enjoys participating in her art class and painting is her favorite form of art. She plans to attend community college after high school and wants to stay close to home to help her mom take care of her siblings. 
This year’s Baron is senior Joel Sturm, son of Larry and Jennifer Sturm who will be his escorts at tonight’s game. 
Sturm wants to be a team manager for the Dallas Cowboys and wants to travel to Australia and also become a computer programmer. After high school, he wants to be a part of the Achieve Program at Texas A&M University in Bryan-College Station. 
The Homecoming game will take place at Bulldawg Stadium, located at 702 Sunny Avenue. The homecoming ceremony starts at 7 p.m., with kick-off set to begin at 7:30 p.m.