Meet Cranston West's homecoming queen

By Pete Fontaine
Posted 12/1/16

Laura Castellone may be the most unlikely of the Homecoming queens crowned in Rhode Island this fall. First, Castellone lives in Johnston but was crowned Cranston High School West's 2016 Homecoming Queen. Nearly two years ago, the

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Meet Cranston West's homecoming queen

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Laura Castellone may be the most unlikely of the Homecoming queens crowned in Rhode Island this fall.

First, Castellone lives in Johnston but was crowned Cranston High School West’s 2016 Homecoming Queen.

Nearly two years ago, the Castellone family – dad Joseph, mom Barbara, brothers Joseph and John and dog Maximus – moved to Johnston. Because Laura started school in Cranston, however, she was eligible to complete her education at West.

Second, Castellone is a student at the Cranston Area Career & Technical Center, where she is enrolled in the graphic arts program and known as the “Voice of the Voke.” According to her mother, Castellone is a huge hit every morning when she stands behind the school’s public address system with other students and says with great enthusiasm, “Good morning, Cranston West!”

Maybe that’s why people say the popular Castellone would probably be a huge hit on “Saturday Night Live.” She simply loves life and to entertain.

Castellone was a dancer for 15 years and then a member of Cranston West’s precision dance troupe, the Falconettes, who perform during the football season with the Falcons marching band.

“Laura has been dancing since she was two years old,” Barbara Castellone said. “She took the past two years off so she could enjoy her time as a Falconette. She really loved marching up and down the [football] field and performing for everyone.”

On Thanksgiving morning, Castellone’s career as a Falconette ended, just as it did for other senior members of the dance troupe that first became famous when Laura and Dennis DiSano left their careers with the URI marching band and Ramettes and took the Cranston West unit to a prestigious level among high school musical units in the state.

“She’s so sad to see it all end,” Barbara Castellone said. “My husband and I are very, very proud of what Laura has been able to accomplish during her days at Cranston West.”

But before Castellone graduates in June and enrolls at the Community College of Rhode Island in September, the talented teenager has more work to do. She has part-time job at Rite-Aid Pharmacy and will be helping with Cranston West’s Unified Basketball Team this winter. She also volunteers at Cornerstone Adult Services, a memory-care day facility located in Warwick that’s part of the Saint Elizabeth Community. Castellone also holds a third degree brown belt in jiu jitsu and okinawa.

Honored and surprised to win the Homecoming queen crown, Castellone hopes the title, along with her unofficial title of “Voice of the Voke” at the Cranston Area Career & Technical Center at Cranston West High School, will take her a long way in a career she hopes will include modeling and acting.

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