And the winner is ...Jeanette Morelan!The Mount Pleasant 14-year-old was selected Miss America's Outstanding Teen in Orlando on Saturday, beating 51 competitors. She and her mother, Helen, will return from Florida Tuesday night, holding a press conference in the Milwaukee airport.
She won a $30,000 college scholarship and other prizes. For the talent portion of the competition she sang, "Think of Me," from The Phantom of the Opera.
More information and photos are on the pageant website.
Original story, July 3, 2009:
New Miss Wisconsin Teen will be in parade
Appearing near the beginning of Racine's July 4th parade is the city's newest "royalty," Racine native Jeanette Morelan, who won the title of Miss Wisconsin Outstanding Teen in Oshkosh just two weeks ago, on June 17.
Jeanette, a student at the Prairie School, is the daughter of Dr. Robert and Helen Morelan. She and other contestants competed in scholastic achievement, talent, interview, fitness, onstage question and formal wear. A vocalist, Jeanette performed “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked for her talent.
The Miss America’s Outstanding Teen program promotes scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement for America’s teens. Through her platform “The Power of One,” Jeanette hopes to inspire and encourage every person to realize their power: the power to dream, the power to believe in that dream and ultimately the power to act on that dream.”
In addition to winning a $1,000 scholarship, she also received a $200 savings bond for optional categories of Most Photogenic and Best Smile. She will represent Wisconsin at the National Outstanding Teen program in Orlando, FL, in August.
Her ambition is to graduate from Harvard with a degree in political science and government as well as a degree in law. Setting her sights high, she plans to become President of the United States in 2040.
You go girl!
ReplyDeleteActually, scholastic achievement is worth only 5% in this competition -- the lowest of all the areas to be judged.
ReplyDeleteAnd it was apparently only recently added..to comply with the national regulations.
ReplyDeleteBut, along with interview, which is 35%, and onstage question, which is 5%, 45% of their score is based on what kind of person they are...as for talent, it is an opportunity for the contestants to show their dedication to something that is important to them. At the national pageant, over 165,000 are given out in scholarships, including full rides to colleges...it is a much better outlet for young women to get involved in their community and invest in their life, rather than drugs and violene. Also, the winner is a straight A student, along with about 95% of the girls. This is not just a beauty pageant.
ReplyDeleteIt's not JUST a beauty pageant, but it IS a beauty pageant, right? I mean, based on the percentages, the probability of someone who is not considered "beautiful" winning is pretty minimal. So, this is NOT an academic program == it is a beauty program. Lets just be real here.
ReplyDeleteI don't care if beauty pageants exist. I just find it insulting when they try to pass themselves off as something that they are not.
Good grief, if you feel that compelled to defend a program that is obviously based on beauty,then perhaps you should consider why you feel that way.
Beacause these are the girls that are actually going to DO SOMETHING IN LIFE. Listen to me, sure, there are plenty of pretty girls, but there are only a handful who are intelligent, kind, and humbe enough to realize the crown is a way to serve others.
ReplyDeleteAs for beauty, can anyone really define the standards for what that is? If you look at each phase of the competiton, not one says the judge is looking for "a girl who looks good." you might see something like "is able to present herself well" in other words, CONFIDENCE, which so many teens do not have. I'm not talking about conceit, just the ability to be PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE.
If you have seen any of the state or national contestants, you will notice that some of them wouldn't fit your standards of "pretty", but the person they are inside---the way they can communicate--makes them stand out more then the most beautiful one.
I actually had the opportunity to attend the pageant, and afterwards, not one of the judges, or the audience, said that "She looked great," or, "She's so beautiful". The first comment was
"Wow, she can really SPEAK"
"Her onstage question touched my heart"
"You know she's going to do something with this title."
Why am I defending this program? Because I've seen what it's done TO these girls. It doesn't matter if they have a crown on their head or not, they are all so passionate about giving of themselves! Do you find that very often in America? Do you find teens that would give up a Saturday to go volunteer at nursing homes or soup kitchens? Do you find America's leaders showing themselves at such a young age?
Call it what you want, if you have never seen or expirienced it yourself.But I know, along with the select few of us, what this is really about. Look past the contreversy, the media's negative attention, and you will see that this program is finding the leaders out there and giving them a chance to shine.
You call that beauty?
6:33 - do you think a heavy girl with acne could win?
ReplyDeleteI have had the pleasure of working with Jeanette. She does stand out among the other children. She has a positive, go getter, team work attitude all her own. She works hard and is a leader among her peers. She deserved to win. Congrats to her and her family.
ReplyDelete11:25 - that is great and I bet she is a great individual, but if she was over weight and had acne - do you think she would win - thus these pageants rely highly on looks.
ReplyDeletePeople with acne do win. There are body shapers to suck in fat. There are so many great cover up make up products out there. Hair extensions are another product too. Jeanette is not the typical beauty. Even if someone was chubby with acne we wouldn't know it.
ReplyDelete9:32 - Sure, what a joke.
ReplyDeleteNot your suggesting that shouldn't be allowed make up either? Start your own pageant.
ReplyDelete