Candidates prepare to 'Be your best self'
Candidates prepare to 'Be your best self'
MOSES LAKE — The Chief Moses Middle School cafeteria was empty for spring break, except for the sounds of seven high school girls practicing to compete for the 2006 Moses Lake Junior Miss title.
Huddled around a table before practice one Tuesday evening, Washington's 2006 Junior Miss Tanae Bergeson and program leaders gave the girls advice about what to expect when they compete April 22 at the Moses Lake High School auditorium.
"Let them (the judges) see the inside person," co-chairman Bonnie Dorris said.
Practicing to be their best self, a motto of the Junior Miss program, holds a different meaning among the seven contestants.
For Victoria Zavala, being her best self is knowing she can accomplish what she sets out to do.
"If you tell yourself you can do it, you'll really shine through," Zavala said.
Confidence is the key to Amanda Sells being her best self.
"It means walking out with confidence," Sells said. "Enough confidence to not let anything get you down."
When all seven young women compete for the title they will get a chance to demonstrate all that and more when they perform as a group and individually.
Judges will score contestants in the areas of interview, talent, fitness, self expression and scholastic achievement. Junior Miss is the nation's oldest and largest scholarship program which began in the 1920s.
Since that time, famous names such as TV anchor Diane Sawyer (Kentucky Junior Miss 1963), IBM computer scientist and executive Linda Rutledge Delbridge (America Junior Miss 1973) and Debra Messing from "Will and Grace" (Rhode Island contestant 1986) have participated in Junior Miss.
Carrying on the Junior Miss tradition is a chance for contestants to represent their home town, a position new to some of this year's girls and very much familiar to others.
Mary Reed can't recall a time when she was in a position to represent a place or group of people, but says she knows what makes a person a good representative.
"A person who has done their best," Reed said.
Reed considers Junior Miss to be a chance at sharing with others who she is.
"This is a chance to express myself and show abilities I usually don't show out in public," Reed said.
Whitney Chamberlain, a lieutenant for the Moses Lake High School drill team, is not only familiar with the responsibilities that come with being a representative and leader, but the tough decisions that sometimes come with those responsibilities.
If named the 2006 Junior Miss for Moses Lake, Chamberlain will have to withdraw her participation from the Washington State Dairy Princess program being held in May.
Contestants cannot have more than one title, Chamberlain explained. "It's kind of sad I have to choose, but whatever the outcome is, I have something to look forward to."
Then there is the appeal of being on stage and dressing up for an evening. Each contestant has their moment to shine.
"When you present yourself the way you do in Junior Miss it makes you feel like a princess," Kaelin Jones said.
The program begins at 7 p.m. April 22 at MLHS. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased from contestants or The UPS Store in Moses Lake.
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