'Mr. Watkins Mill' Captures Seniors' Wolverine Pride

He’s not much in the way of moves, and his pedigree as a performer begins and ends with cracking wise in the classroom. So on stage in front of hundreds of screaming classmates in the Mr. Watkins Mill gala, Mitchell Nguyen was all dread and frayed nerves despite the fact that he was clearly the crowd’s darling from beginning to end.

He and the seven other seniors “competing” in the 23rd annual extravaganza had practiced for weeks, taking on the tutelage of Watkins Mill’s Poms team and teaming with each other to hash out their performances.

It wasn’t just about the glory and the thrill of hearing hundreds of peers screaming their names. It was also for the sake of one of Watkins Mill’s most heart-felt causes; the Mike Tyler Scholarship Fund, named in honor of the beloved Watkins Mill student who died in 2006 after he was paralyzed wrestling for the Wolverines.

And it was a night of reflection and celebration, the consummation of the Class of 2011’s Wolverine pride. And it was a microcosm of the peculiar predicament of a high school senior: the boundless excitement brimming at the cusp of a vast future, made bittersweet by the growing realization that the one place they’ve truly called their own will soon be left behind.

So for those few giddy hours on Thursday night, it was their moment to shine. They strutted their stuff to the crowd's delight, a silly, self-deprecating parade of gags and gaffes and missed steps.

The ladies in the crowd swooned to track and football star Daniel Upson’s soul-shaking rendition of “Let Me Love You” by Mario. Three-sport stud Mike Benavides’s routine with the gymnastics ribbon took his athletic prowess to new heights. And Jeremiah Kober nearly brought the house down with “Watkins Mill State of Mind,” his re-worded version of the Jay-Z classic, set to a slide show chronicling his most cherished Mill memories.

[Editor’s note: special kudos go to Kober's chorus; “I bleed orange and blue, yo / (We) Got diversity fondue”]

In the end, it was Mitch’s heralded sense of humor—commended by his peers in the Senior Superlatives—that helped him stake his piece of Watkins Mill lore.

He threw the show for a curve when he came out on stage in beatnik black—beret, bongos, scarf and faux ‘stache—to perform “Tips for an Intimate Evening.” Dry and deadpan to the extreme, his trio of jokes drew roars from the adoring crowd, the shrillest shrieks coming from the section around “Team Mitch”—a gaggle of fanatics clad in matching shirts.

The performance captured the essence of an ideal Mr. Watkins Mill, said emcee and event coordinator Jody Tyler—“humor, something that surprises you, and just having a sense of pride in our school when it’s all said and done”—so she was by no means surprised that Mitch came out on top.

“He’s a very genuine kid. He approached everything just a little bit differently,” she said. “And, I don’t know, I think having a group of kids with shirts on screaming for you doesn’t hurt.”

Principal Scott Murphy bestowed the crown, sash, and a promise of retribution for Mitch’s crack about confusing the first-year principal for a freshman wandering the hallways on the first day of school.

That crown will eventually find its way into a closet somewhere once Mitch heads off to the University of Maryland-College Park to study business. But for one day, at least, he proudly brandished the crown as he roamed Watkins Mill’s familiar hallways on Friday, feeling the full measure of Wolverine love amidst the swarm by congratulations.

“It’s good to be king,” he said.