MURFREESBORO — A princess held court at Middle Tennessee Christian School Thursday morning.
Miss Tennessee reads to kindergartners at MTCS. Mary M. Reeves/DNJ
“They see my crown and ask me if I’m a princess and if I live in a castle,” said Grace Burgess, the reigning Miss Tennessee. “I just say -- absolutely! Let them dream.”
Burgess, who not only placed in the top 10 at the recent Miss America contest, but won the talent preliminary with her rendition of “Desperado,” believes in having dreams – and achieving them.
“I’m here to talk about personality traits,” she told a group of third through sixth graders at the school. “What can you tell me about ‘grit’?”
As Miss Tennessee, Burgess serves as Governor Bill Haslam’s official spokesperson for character education, traveling to schools in all 95 counties to talk about character traits.
“My favorite is perseverance,” she said. “Grit.”
She told the students the importance of having a dream, but also have the determination, dedication and perseverance to make that dream come true.
“When I was a girl, I decided I wanted to be Miss Tennessee,” she said. “The first time I competed, I didn’t even place in the top 20. The next year I was the first runner-up.”
It was the year after that, she said, when the sparkling diadem was finally placed on her head.
“One time, a student asked, me where I got my crown, “ Burgess said later, laughing. “Before I could answer, a little girl shouted ‘Walmart!’”
She was introduced at the school assembly by a fellow Miss Tennessee – MTCS student Brookelyn Pedigo, who is this year’s Miss Tennessee Pre Teen.Later, Burgess sang a verse from “Desperado” a capella.
Burgess spends much of her busy schedule talking to children and answering their questions. If you were in the gym Thursday morning when the students grilled her, you know that her favorite drink is Dr. Pepper, her favorite foods are pizza and sushi, and even though, as a University of Memphis student, she is loyal to her team of Tigers, but she is proud of how UT is playing this year. (But baseball is her favorite sport.)
Her favorite song is “Fight Song,” and the hardest questions the judges at Miss America asked her was “Would you steal to feed your family.”
Her favorite dress was the red evening gown she wore at the Miss America pageant.
‘It was red and had this cool cape thing,’ Burgess told the students. “I felt like a superhero!”
Besides providing motivating speeches and answering a blizzard of questions, Burgess spends a lot of time just reading to students.
“I grew up in a house where reading truly was a family value,” she said. “I grew up strong in my love of reading.”
So much so, in fact, that literacy is her primary platform as Miss Tennessee. The 22-year-old began working with childhood literacy programs such as Books from Birth and Reading is Fundamental when she was 16. . She raised more than $11,000 for multiple childhood literacy organizations by developing her own original fundraisers such as “Lollipops for Literacy,” “Ballerinas Balance Books,” “Locked Up For Literacy,” and a “For The Love of Literacy Luncheon.” Those fundraising efforts have enabled her to purchase, collect and donate more than 5,000 new and used books to children across the state.
“She was pretty cool,” said fourth grader Campbell Owen. “She said to always stay with your dreams.”
http://www.dnj.com/story/news/2016/10/13/miss-tennessee-visits-murfreesboro-school/91998704/
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário