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A baby lets out a piercing cry, startling the group of five senior boys. They all rush to the group of babies placed next to each other. Each of them has the same question in mind, “Is that my baby?”
This robotic baby challenge was only one out of four the boys had to face during the 2024 preference week at NS. The boys’ challenges included cupcake sales, caring for a robot baby, creating a lunch basket to be auctioned off and performing a dance in front of the school.
This year Odin Laupapa was announced as the most “Preferred Man,” with Diego Reyes winning “Funniest,” Trace Rees winning “Best Salesman,” David Harman winning “Best Dancer,” Brandt Lund winning “Best Day- to-Day Style” and Wyatt Bailey winning “Best Dad.”
“At first I was kind of shocked because I never thought I’d actually be preferred man,” Laupapa said. “When I found out I was like, ‘That’s actually kind of cool to do all this stuff throughout the week and have fun with some other guys.’”
The challenges and other activities throughout the week helped raise money for FCCLA, with over $1,200 being raised. In preparation for preference week, FCCLA held regular meetings, made a video promoting preference and polled the students to find the six most preferred men.
The five boys were announced on Monday morning and the first challenge started on Tuesday.
“I got nominated, and I hurried and went to Walmart,” Reyes said. “I went to the baby aisle, picked up clothes for it and picked up some slippers for it. That was the funniest memory of just me picking out baby clothes and dressing my baby up.”
Being nominated for most preferred man wasn’t just fun, but helped some of the boys gain confidence and improve their self-image.
“I think I’ve always kind of struggled with how people publicly perceive me,” Rees said. “Knowing that people think of me as a good person is helpful and… it helps a lot.”
Students have the opportunity to nominate the boys who they think deserve recognition and are dependable.
“I love being someone people could look out for, look up to,” Rees said. “I think sometimes people don’t always just put the hottest guy. Most of the time it’s just someone they know and they can trust and talk to.”
The boys were able to enjoy the experience and have a fun time.
“Me and Diego, so we sold all of our cupcakes, but we still went around to every classroom,” Laupapa said. “We would argue with each other and play rock paper scissors between the money to see who gets it. I just kept getting money and he kept getting angry. It was fun to do that with him. Just go around and see who could collect the most money out of each other.”
Even though they were competitors, it helped them improve their relationships and spend time with new people.
“It was just a fun way to spend time with some people I don’t often get to spend time with,” Lund said. “I was just grateful for the time I had to be able to really kind of strengthen my connection with some of those people.”
