Young and Distinguished
Six Dallastown’s juniors will take on Distinguished Young Women Scholarship Program in May.
Photos Courtesy of Distinguished Young Women
Six Dallastown juniors will participate in the Distinguished Young Women contest for a chance to earn scholarship money. Pictured top row R-L, Natalie Cottrell, Paige Langmead, Ava Markel. Bottom row R-L, Anna Smith, Emma White, Katrina Wolfe
Are you brave enough to put yourself out into the world to show them who you really are, to perform and speak in front of a crowd with their eyes locked on you?
Every year, high school junior girls are given the opportunity to sign up to compete in the Distinguished Young Women pageant.
Formerly known as America’s Junior Miss, Distinguished Young Women was founded in 1958, in hopes to reward senior girls hoping to pursue higher education.
DYW is the largest and oldest scholarship program for high school girls. Today, over 775,000 girls compete in this program.
This year, six Dallastown girls will be competing for the title.
“I decided to do Distinguished Young Women to grow as an individual and prepare for life beyond high school,” said competitor Emma White.
The young ladies have the opportunity to compete at the local, state, and national levels.
Over $114 million in cash scholarships have been rewarded through the program, and that number continues to grow.
In York County alone, DYW will give out $40,000 in cash scholarships.
DYW is unique to other scholarship programs because of its ability to teach girls interviewing, public speaking, self-confidence, and community involvement
With scholarship, leadership, and talent as the overwhelming theme. The girls will compete in five categories consisting of, scholastic (25%), Interview (25%), Talent (20%), Fitness (15%), and Self-Expression (15%).
“It will be my first time sharing my poetry to a crowd and I really want to impress people with my work,” says competitor Natalie Cottrell.
For Cottrell’s talent, she will be reciting a poem she wrote specially for this occasion. She was originally planning on singing a song she wrote and playing her guitar, but her love for poetry prevailed.
“I thought I would be able to get my message across better through a poetic stance than a song,” said Cottrell.
This competition is extremely competitive and can trigger lots of nerves for the girls.
Leading up to the pageant is very lengthy. The girls have lots of forms to fill out, they have to buy about four outfits and costumes, and they have a practice where they will learn the routines they will perform.
“Cramming all the information and trying to get everything done is difficult,” said competitor Ava Markel.
Although, the experience the girls have has a consistently positive outcome when it is all said and done. Everyone tends to have a fantastic experience.
I knew the program would allow me to form connections and grow friendships as well, and it’s definitely doing that!
— Emma White
While being a part of this program, the girls have the chance to meet lots of new people and make new friends.
“Everyone seems super bubbly and fun,” says Markel.
DYW hopes to make an impact on all of its competitors. It starts to make an impact even at the first practice.
“It’s bringing me out of my comfort zone, and I’m learning more about myself,” said Cottrell.
The girls competing will continue to work on their performances and routines as a group as well as separately until the competition.
These girls will compete on May 29 at 2:30 PM, at The Pullo Center in York. In hopes of winning at the local level, and continuing on to the state level.
Tickets can be purchased on the Pullo Center website for $22.
Tickets can be purchased here
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