8 juniors seek Royal crown
(From left) Amanda Conger, Jennifer Valentine, Adilene Espino, Charity Robbins, Hannah Fanning, Lucia Aguirre, Meghan Mianecki and Areisy
ROYAL CITY - This year's Royal City Distinguished Young Woman pageant could be the most entertaining ever. It could also be the longest.
Eight Royal High juniors have signed up for the competition that offers thousands of dollars in college scholarships. They will sing and dance and perform other talents for what should be a packed house at the Red Rock Elementary auditorium.
The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. The show, themed "Let's Go to the Hop", will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets will cost $10 purchased in advance from contestants or $12 at the door.
On hand to participate in this celebration of young womanhood and to say farewell will be the past year's DYW court. They are 2014 DYW Samantha Jaye Eilers, 1st Finalist Samantha Reine Noftle and 2nd Finalist Jacquelin Guadarrama.
The DYW program is organized and conducted under the leadership of the Royal City Festivals board of directors. It includes President Chris Mianecki, Sharon Chesterman, Sabrina Christensen, Lisa Christensen, Cynthia Small, Kyla Christensen, Paula Boyce and Julirae Gunter-Castleton.
According to Gunter-Castleton, Distinguished Young Women is the largest and oldest national scholarship program for high school girls. It has provided more than $100 million in cash scholarships at the local, state, and national levels.
DYW also provides life-changing experiences for many of the contestants. All of them walk away with new friendships, life skills, and increased self-confidence.
"It is DYW's mission to positively impact the lives of young women by providing a transformative experience that promotes and rewards scholarship, leadership, and talent," Gunter-Castleton said.
At the pageant, DYW encourages and showcases excellence in academic achievement, physical fitness, on-stage performance skills, and the ability to think and communicate clearly.
A panel of judges, usually with DYW pageant experience, interview the contestants and rate them in physical fitness and talent performance. They also judge poise, which is demonstrated by answering a question they've not heard beforehand.