Contact Telephone Cell Email Website Nancy Barbee Ross DYW of Florida 407‐625‐1526 [email protected] www.DistinguishedYW.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2017
FLORIDA’S DISTINGUISHED YOUNG WOMAN IS NAMED Winter Garden, FL – On Saturday, January 21, 2017, at The Garden Theater in Winter Garden, five judges from around the country named Apopka’s Brianna Margeurite Peet as Florida’s Distinguished Young Woman for 2017. Brianna is the recipient of $5,100 in college scholarships winning preliminary awards in four of the five competition categories………scholastics, interview, fitness and talent. Brianna will represent Florida in the nationwide search for America’s Distinguished Young Woman at the two week National Competition in Mobile, AL June 29‐30 and July 1, 2017. Each state and the District of Columbia will send their representatives to Mobile after all having gone through both preliminary participation and qualification in their local areas and state competition. Brianna Peet is a student at Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando. She is an AP Scholar with Distinction; National Honor Society Vice President; Graduation Marshal and Teaching Assistant for the Math Department Chair. She is on the Academic President’s List; the Honor Council; Ethical Protector Award recipient and the Captain of Lake Highland’s Varsity Dance Team. Brianna is a student at Rolann’s School of the Dance in Longwood, FL and has earned numerous awards and scholarships for her outstanding performances. She is a community scholar where she donates her time to fund‐raising projects, mentors middle, elementary and Pre‐K students, teaches and coaches young dancers and is the Vice‐President of the Be-You-Tiful Club where she mentors girls to foster self-empowerment. Distinguished Young Women, formerly America’s Junior Miss, was founded in 1958 as a way to reward the accomplishments of high school senior girls seeking to pursue higher education. Phyllis Whitenack, West Virginia’s representative received a $5,000 scholarship as the first America’s Junior Miss. For last year’s Class of 2016, nearly 100 colleges and universities have made available over $1.1 billion dollars in college‐granted scholarships to over 3,000 participants in more than 400 local, state and national programs. With the completion of the 59th National Finals in June 2016, over $2.2 million in cash scholarships will have been earned by those young women. Thanks to the dedicated perseverance of thousands of volunteers across the country who devote countless hours and resources to ensure the success of this program, these young women have all been afforded the opportunity to achieve! What is Distinguished Young Women? Distinguished Young Women is a unique program that combines the chance to win college scholarships with a program that offers Life Skills training to prepare young women for the world after high school. Each year we make over $1.1 billion dollars in scholarships available and it costs nothing to enter! The program takes place in all 50 states and Washington DC with some states having local programs as well. Young women participate in either their junior or senior year of high school, so check our web page of their state or local program to make sure they don’t miss out. Each Distinguished Young Women program evaluates participants in the following categories: Scholastics (25%), Interview (25%), Talent (20%), Fitness (15%), and Self‐Expression (15%). Local program winners, in states where locals are available, advance to the state level. All state winners participate in the National Finals which is held in Mobile, Alabama the June after or in which she graduates from high school. In addition, through our Life Skills program, which includes workshops and online resources, participants can learn skills like interviewing, public speaking, self‐confidence building and much more. These skills not only prepare everyone for our program but also for the world after high school and college. Check out our online resources on our YouTube channel. And remember, it is always free to enter! For information specific to each state’s Distinguished Young Women program or the National Finals competition, go to www.distinguishedyw.org If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Nancy Barbee Ross at DYW of Florida, contact information above. # # # Page | 2 Page | 3