Guys stepped up their game and into the spotlight this Homecoming season. Some may argue these extravagant measures are too over-the-top, unnecessary, or corny, but plenty of Palmetto’s girls love that a boy took the time to do something special for them.

As the attendees of the September pep rally may remember, senior Wyatt Chickillo surprised junior Jessenia Llapur by asking her to Homecoming in front of the entire school.

“I had no idea it was coming, it was so sweet and it made my day,” Llapur said. Those thirty seconds were the talk of Palmetto for the day; Chickillo raised the stakes, he had been one of the first to ask ‘his girl’ to Homecoming. “It was an unforgettable moment,” Llapur added.

Sophomore Jonathan Parker put a lot of time into asking junior Emily Yackee to Homecoming.

“I wanted to be original and do something big,” Parker said. He decorated Yackee’s room with a banner, roses and “yes” and “no” labels. “I thought of the idea myself, I just wanted to make her happy,” Parker said.

Senior Jonathan Presley had a few tricks up his sleeve when it came to asking junior Anja Dadesky to Homecoming. Presley demonstrated a card trick to Dadesky: once he flipped the cards over, the aces spelled out “Will you go to Homecoming with me?”

Junior Nick Marley and his girlfriend, freshman Emily Owens, were in Margaritaville on October 2, 2010 during their visit to Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights, watching a performance of Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours.” At the end of the song, the performer announced the song was dedicated to Owens, and Marley wanted to know if she would go to Homecoming with him.

“I was so impressed that he had the guts to go up there and do that,” Owens relayed. Many boys feel that when they have been dating someone for a while, there is no need to ask their girlfriend; it is just assumed that they will go together. “Being with him for so long, I didn’t expect it to be so cute.”

Senior Michael Levey planned a romantic event that junior Marissa Levine never saw coming.

“Levey had approached me some time last week asking for a favor – I  had no clue it would be so romantic,” English teacher Dalia Pullido said.

“To make a long story short, I was supposed to get Marissa in trouble for anything that came to mind, and kick her out. Outside my door, Levey would be waiting for her with flowers and a poem, prepared to ask her to Homecoming.”

A perfect day or a sweet note in her locker could do the trick and fulfill a girl’s dreams. So do not simply ask, make it special.