Which former Miss America gave dance lessons to the new Miss Alabama?
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on June 13, 2016 at 2:36 PM, updated June 13, 2016 at 6:17 PM
Hayley Barber, who was crowned Saturday night as Miss Alabama 2016, started taking dance lessons when she was four. In the fourth grade, she took lessons from former Miss America Heather Whitestone McCallum.
That turned out to be a big influence on her becoming a pageant contestant.
"Heather Whitestone (Miss America 1995) is the reason I started competing in the organization," Barber said. "I danced with her in the fourth grade."
McCallum, who was the first deaf Miss America, took the stage on Saturday night during the competition to perform "The Rose" in sign language.
This was Barber's fifth year in the pageant, so she's gotten to know many more of the past Miss Alabama winners and recent contestants. "All the girls that have been contestants for the past few years, they all are so amazing and inspired me to be the very best I can and do whatever I can to help my community," Barber said.
Barber is about to embark on a whirlwind that will include competing in the Miss America Pageant this fall.
"That will be an awesome two weeks that I'm there," Barber said. "That's been a dream of mine since I was a little girl, to be up on the stage. We have a lot of work to do; I'm definitely ready for it and excited for it. I'll be ready to hit the road and practice as much as I can for the Miss America Pageant."
Five years competing in the Miss Alabama pageant has imparted a lot of benefits for Barber that she can take with her to the Miss America competition. "Resilience, how to take criticism, because a lot of people like to give it, and just to stay positive, and do what you can, be yourself, and love who you are," Barber said.
Barber, a 2012 graduate of Pelham High School, aspires to be a pediatric optometrist. She's a senior marketing major at UAB. She works at Retina Consultants of Alabama at the Callahan Eye Hospital, or at least she did.
"I've got quit my job," she said. Being Miss Alabama is now her full-time job.
Barber's platform is "Sight for Small Eyes," her campaign for children to get eye examinations and vision therapy.
Hayley Barber of Pelham was crowned Miss Alabama 2016 on Saturday night at Samford University's Wright Center.
Barber said she likes to meet new people. That will be a big part of her job for the next year. "Just meeting everybody across the state that I possibly can and making them feel special – staying for the last child to sign an autograph," Barber said. "I want to be the girl who takes the time to meet each and every person that wants to meet me and just give whatever I can to that person."
http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2016/06/which_former_miss_america_gave.html
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