On Wednesday, March 1, Walpole High School Student Council (StuCo) held its first Date Auction since 2012 in the school cafeteria.

Bidders arrived at the auction with “StuCo Bucks” which were handed out that week and the week before vacation to students who participated in the spirit days.

The event drew in 16 potential bachelors and bachelorettes—three senior girls and 13 senior boys—looking for love (or maybe just the free pizza and candy that was provided by StuCo waitresses at their date).

The senior participants in the auction chose an entrance song to accompany them as they strutted into the cafeteria and also answered a short questionnaire providing information such as their ideal first date.

David Moser rose above the rest of the participants and was auctioned off to senior Mandy Scully for 600,000 StuCo Bucks, the largest bid of the night.

Other high bids included Richard Crowley to senior Brandon Kilroy and Cam Martin to sophomore Fiona Moriarty for 92,000 StuCo Bucks and 53,000 StuCo Bucks respectively.

“It was a very funny experience and it would be cool if StuCo could carry it into next year and make it a school tradition,” said Martin.

However, the bidding did not just come from the audience. After being auctioned off himself, senior Matt Rando defied the auction’s norms and joined the audience to bid on fellow senior Grace Sewell.

“When you were bidding from the crowd, it got you excited just trying to beat that one or two other people going for the same person as you,” said Rando.

Additionally, junior Ryan Barry had not one, but two dates as he bid on both Rando and Brian Conneely.

After five years, StuCo brought back the Date Auction in order to increase school spirit while providing the students with a night of laughter and romance.

“The Date Auction was a blast because everyone had fun making a fool of themselves up there,” said senior James Randall. “I think anything like that always helps to raise school spirit because the whole school can have fun together.”