Wayne Junior Miss Pageant Saturday at WCC
By From staff reports
Published in News on October 6, 2011 1:46 PM
The Wayne County Junior Miss Pageant will be held Saturday at 7 p.m. in Moffatt Auditorium at Wayne Community College.
Eleven girls, all high school seniors, will compete in the scholarship event, which is a preliminary for the Distinguished Young Women of North Carolina Program, an official preliminary of the Distinguished Young Women of America Program.
The girls will compete for the title of Distinguished Young Woman of Wayne County and a share of $7,150 in cash scholarships.
The categories in which each contestant is evaluated are scholastics (20 percent), interview (25 percent), talent (24 percent), fitness (15 percent), and self-expression (15 percent).
The program's goal is to honor young women who excel in all of these areas and to encourage them to continue on the path of excellence by completing college educations and assuming roles of leadership in their communities and professions, thereby setting examples for other young women to follow.
The America's Junior Miss Program was founded in 1957 and is the oldest and largest scholarship program for young women. More than 7,000 high school girls participate each year. Past participants include Diane Sawyer, Debra Messing, Deborah Norville, Julie Moran, the late Mary Frann, Kim Basinger and Kathie Lee Gifford.
Young women participating in the 2012 Wayne County Program are: Katlyn Casey of Spring Creek High, the daughter of Ralph and Kay Casey; Jessica Cunningham, Parrott Academy, the daughter of Dr. David and Pam Cunningham; Devon Raynor of Spring Creek High, Bobbie Raynor and Debbie Raynor; Paulina Le of Charles B. Aycock High, the daughter of Dr. Paul and Vicky Le; Samantha Baker of Eastern Wayne High, the daughter of Jeff and Debbie Baker; Karly Derwitz of Wayne Early Middle, the daughter of Greg and Michelle Derwitz; Amanda Rouse of Spring Creek High, the daughter of James Rouse and Jackie Rouse; Sara Boltinhouse of Spring Creek High, the daughter of Lester and Beverly Boltinhouse; Emily Spengler of Eastern Wayne High, the daughter of Steve and Susan Spengler; Cissi Denton of Parrott Academy, the daughter of Dr. Kent and Cecilia Denton; and Armani Perry of Rosewood High, the daughter of Eric and Chanda Perry.
Brooke Smith is the reigning Wayne County Junior Miss.
The 55th annual Distinguished Young Women program National finals will be held in Mobile, Alabama, June 21-23, 2012.
For more information on the Distinguished Young Women call (800) 256-5435 or visit www.DistinguishedYW.org.
For information about the Wayne County Program call (919) 288-2828 or email waynejuniormiss@hotmail. com.