For eight consecutive years, Mr. Hawthorne has taken HHS by storm with its unique talent show format, various styles of humor, and, most importantly, a colorful cast of students who never disappoint.

Each year, head of student activities and art teacher, Ms. Russo, puts together this unique event with the help of HHS alumni Stefanie Kristin and Angelika Alverez.

The audition sheet for Mr. Hawthorne was posted outside of Ms. Russo’s room in early December. Ten students auditioned for a spot in the show, but only eight lucky guys were given the chance to fight for the crown: Joe Aliano, Andrew Caradonna, Adam Deitrich, Moe Jawish, Luis Mendoza, Nicky Joe Sokolofsky, Ezekiel Somma, and, the only junior, Thomas Tricoli.

For three months, the boys continuously practiced their talents and worked on the opening dance, tirelessly preparing for the night of the show on March 6.

Before anyone knew it, March 6 had arrived. That night, the HHS auditorium was packed with anxious students, teachers, family, etc. all ready to see the phenomenon that was the ninth annual Mr. Hawthorne.  

The show started with an introduction from the hostesses of the night, senior Caleigh McCarthy and junior Natalie Kane. They welcomed the audience as the opening video was ready to play. The video was a spoof on the MTV reality show, Real World, featuring all of the Mr. Hawthorne contestants. After the conclusion of the video, the contestants ran down the aisles of the auditorium and ran up on stage to perform the opening dance, which had everyone in awe.

After the dance, the hostesses came back out and introduced the judges: Mrs. Fusaro, Mr. McMann, Mr. VanWinkle, Mrs. Redmerski, and Mr. Passaro. As soon as that concluded, the talent portion was ready to begin. 

To sum it up, all eight contestants had the audience laughing their heads off with their various talents. The positive mood of the audience continued into the runway portion of the show, where all the guys wowed the audience with their unusual attire.

After the dust settled, the judges took some time to themselves to determine who would move on to the top five. A few minutes later, all of the contestants were called back on stage where the top five was revealed to be Joe Aliano, Moe Jawish, Ezekiel Somma, Adam Deitrich, and Nicky Joe Sokolofsky. For the final stretch, the judges took turns questioning each contestant with brain-busting questions. After everything was said and done, the judges once again took time to themselves, but this time, their decision would produce a winner.

Once again, all of the contestants were called back onto the stage, with the top five front and center. Ms. Russo and last year’s Mr. Hawthorne, Luke Kowalski, were present to announce the winner.

Before that could happen, the runner up was announced first, which was none other than Ezekiel Somma, who was crowned Mr. Congeniality. Finally, it was time to announce the winner. The winner of Mr. Hawthorne 2020 is………..Nicky Joe Sokolofsky!

Upon being crowned the winner, Nicky Joe thanked everybody for coming to support them, as well as his fellow cast members and Ms. Russo. 

It was a lot of fun to see Mr. Hawthorne back at it again for the ninth year in a row. Thank you to all who came to support the biggest student council fundraiser of the year. You don’t know how much you help our school out by supporting events like this! Keep coming out to support student council fundraisers for the remainder of the year and go bears!