Faculty king and queen reign at Cibola game

All hail the faculty king and queen!

In honor of Cibola High School's 25th anniversary, the student council added a category to its homecoming court this year: faculty.

Nominated by fellow staff members, night facilities supervisor Bob Morris and bookstore manager Annette Roscoe were selected as Cibola's Homecoming Faculty King and Queen.

In addition to being recognized at a pep assembly, the two longtime faculty members were announced during halftime at Friday's football game and were driven around the field in a convertible.

“We would like to make this a tradition from now on because it's nice to see the staff get recognized,” said Alley Jeffers, 16, the student council community service chair.

Assistant Principal Lisa Domby said that it has been awhile since their campus has had a faculty king and queen, but this year the student council wanted to bring it back. She said all staff members were eligible to be nominated, except administration.

Domby said that when Morris and Roscoe were notified they had been selected, both were taken aback. “I think that was the exciting thing for the kids is to see their excitement, they were totally shocked.”

Roscoe, who has worked at Cibola the 19 years, said she was definitely surprised to be chosen by her co-workers.

“I was really honored. I really enjoyed the whole thing because all these years I've gone to the games and things like that, I've never really been involved in any of the assemblies or any activities.”

After working for attendance three years and at the campus bookstore the past 16 years, Roscoe said, she has enjoyed everyone at Cibola — especially the students. “The students keep you on your toes and keep you young.”

The district's recent change from textbooks to netbooks has been the biggest change since she has been on campus, said Roscoe. Through training and help from student assistants and student workers, she is learning to adjust.

“The students are really good with the netbooks because they grew up with cell phones and computers. I'm learning, but I'm learning from the students now; before, they were learning from me.”

Morris, who has been working at Cibola for 12 years, said that when he was nominated to be homecoming's Faculty King, he thought they were joking at first.

“Some of the teachers said, ‘We're going to vote for you.' And I asked, ‘For what?' I told them they were full of it.”

Morris said he enjoyed the homecoming events a lot more than he thought he would.

“All of it actually turned out to be really fun for me. I kidded with everybody and said that well, I was royalty for a while, but now I'm back to helping haul trash because we had to clean up afterwards. I always help the guys, so I was out of my suit and back into my work clothes.

“One of the teachers said that I was a king for about an hour, but I enjoyed my time in the spotlight.”

Morris began working at Cibola after retiring from a career as a sales manager to keep busy while his wife was teaching at Southwestern Christian School.

He quickly fell in love with working with students and the staff at Cibola. “I got to know the kids and appreciate the kids and love the teachers here, they're all great.”

His school pride even carries over to when he's in the stands cheering for Cibola in various sporting events when they play against Casa Grande, where he's originally from.

“I'm a Cibola Raider now, no question about it. I'm going to have to retire sometime because I'm 74, and I know I don't act like it and I don't work like it but I do enjoy being here. I think as long as I am healthy like I am now, I can't see any reason to leave.”

Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@yumasun.com or 539-6858. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSSarahWomer or on Twitter at @YSSarahWomer.