6 compete for title of Junior Miss

By Laura Johnson | Alex City Outlook

Published Friday, October 23, 2009

Six high school girls from Tallapoosa County will be competing in the Benjamin Russell High School Auditorium Sunday to win Tallapoosa County’s Junior Miss.

The program is often confused with traditional beauty pageants and shares several aspects with them but is different because it is primarily an academic contest for scholarships. It originated in Mobile in 1958 and has since grown to become a national competition.

“(The judges) are looking for a girl who looks like a high school senior and acts like a high school senior,” Barbara Yates Jr. Miss co-chair said of the Tallapoosa County competition. “I don’t want to be the judge by any means because they are so smart.”

The competition will include an academic review, a choreographed evening gown competition, a talent competition and a fitness competition where the girls have to perform an excerpt from a fitness regimen on stage.

The girls have been attending regular practices for the last three weeks and getting to know each other in the meantime.

“Each one is so supportive of each other,” Yates said.

The winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship to be used at the college of her choice and she will advance to compete in the state competition in Montgomery where she will participate with 48 other contestants from Alabama. The winner of the state title will also receive a scholarship and will advance to the national competition that will be held in Mobile in June.

“When they hit the state level these girls are treated like royalty,” Yates said.

The winner of the national competition comes away with a $150,000 cash scholarship.

“Our program awards college scholarships to young women who have distinguished themselves at school and in their communities,” according to the organization’s Web site. “It is our goal to provide the Junior Miss experience to every eligible young woman in Alabama. Those who participate in Junior Miss programs develop interview skills, self-confidence, and other life skills that lead to future success.”

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