Over the past years Howell High has had a contest which allows 9th-12th grade boys to compete for the title of “Mr. Highlander.” The boys dress up during the Winter Fest spirit week and try to be as spirited as possible while collecting money to donate to the St. Baldrick’s foundation for childhood cancer. The winner not only receives the prestigious title, but a cash prize of $200. However, I see one problem with this contest, it has been only offered to boys.

I understand tradition and the fact that “Mr. Highlander” sounds like a title only fit for a male, but I believe it’s unfair to only let boys enter the contest. There’s no reason both genders can’t compete. A girl is quite capable of doing all the tasks involved with the entering of this contest.

This is the 21st century and women and men are supposedly created equal, but this male only contest says otherwise. Beside the fact that there’s no reason not to include the girls, public schools are supposed to create equal opportunities for everyone. Howell should honor this by allowing everyone to compete.

I have two solutions to this problem that could very well work for next year. The school could allow both genders to compete and crown the winner “Most Spirited Highlander” instead of “Mr. Highlander.”  Howell could also create two separate competitions, one for girls and one for guys. Then they could declare two winners “Mr. and Ms. Highlander” and give them each a $100 prize.

As you can see there are ways to let girls get involved in not only this competition, but in other things around the school. Seeing girls involved in the competition getting dressed up in fun outfits for spirit days, could help other girls want to be more spirited and have more pride in their school. This year a girl named Brandi Randall was able to compete and seeing her dress up and stand up for the girls have caused a lot of people to donate to her, which is what this is really all about.

I hope Brandi’s competing sets a precedent for further years to allow girls to compete and raise money for a great cause while having fun and getting other girls involved.