Atlantic City Weekly

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On Thursday, Feb. 17, I went back to my high school alma mater to witness the inaugural “Atlantic City High School Superlative Awards Show.”

I honestly thought it was going to be a stuffy awards presentation for all of the A-list students, and the same four kids who had perfect attendance since junior high school. As the lights went down I was pleasantly surprised as the DJ kicked up some Rhianna and the seniors started to make their way down the isle (the red carpet is all that was missing).

The young ladies looked very stylish, many of them wearing beautiful cocktail dresses and other “after six” wear. The gentlemen’s styles ranged from Wall Street-ready to Roc-A-Wear. One thing that was plain to see was that this evening was about the senior class of 2011.

Senior Elijah Langford opened the show by explaining that the evening was about celebrating their hard work as students and having a good time before they moved on. “Other than prom night and graduation, when is the next time we are all going to be in the same place like this?” Langford asked.

Langford then prepped the crowd for a 10-minute video of the awards show host, Bow Legged Lou. The video chronicled Lou’s contribution with the R&B group Full Force and included (edited for language) clips from the films House Party and Krush Groove.

Bow Legged Lou did a great job as host, engaging the crowd and cracking jokes all night.

The class superlative awards are those also included in the yearbook, for things like “Most Likely To Succeed” to “Teacher’s Pet” and “Teacher’s Worst Nightmare.”

Besides the awards themselves, the evening was filled with highlights. There was an appearance by a Rick Ross impersonator that fooled most of the crowd. At one point, members of the school administration — including teachers, coaches and principals — got on stage to dance “The Dougie.” Early in the night the principal came out dressed as the school Viking mascot.

After the show I found out that the idea for the award show came from Elijah Langford — his hard work and vision paid off. Earlier that week I had spoken with someone who said they wished ACHS would bring back the Senior Fashion Show. Well, I can say that this event was on par with that past fun-and-interactive event. I enjoyed myself at the ACHS Superlatives Awards Show and I hope that young Mr. Langford has a great junior in mind to pass the baton to, because I hope to be a presenter at next year’s awards. The award show should be an annual event that the students can take charge of.

As an alumni of ACHS, I was very proud. As a creative writing teacher I can brag that I’ve had opportunity to work with both the winners of the “Most Likely to Succeed” awards — Mr. Anthony Cox Jr. and Ms. Bianca Dennis. In fact my Teen Voices radio show had presented Dennis with our “Outstanding Personality of the Month Award” just the night before!

Raymond Tyler hosts the Alternative Soul Sunday Breakfast Club radio show each Sunday from 7–8am on 96.1FM WTTH - The Touch.