Press release from Distinguished Young Women
Amie Sessoms of Forest City, N.C. will travel to Mobile, Ala. on Sunday, June 16 to participate in the 56th Distinguished Young Women National Finals to be held June 27, 28 and 29 at the Mobile Civic Center Theater. Sessoms is one of 50 state representatives competing for a share of more than $100,000 in cash scholarships and the opportunity to represent the program as the Distinguished Young Woman of America for 2013.
Following her selection as the Distinguished Young Woman of North Carolina, Sessoms began preparations for the National Finals competition, which will include five categories of evaluation: scholastics (20%), interview (25%), fitness (15%), talent (25%) and self-expression (15%). During her two weeks in Mobile, Sessoms will participate in team building activities, complete community service projects, interact with the Gulf Coast community through various events and engage in many hours of rehearsal in preparation for the three night scholarship competition.
“Distinguished Young Women seeks to recognize and reward young women who have set themselves apart from their peers and worked toward excellence in all areas of their lives,” said Heather Rocker, executive director of Distinguished Young Women. “The 50 outstanding high school senior girls who will take part in our 56th annual National Finals represent the best qualities of today’s youth and will surely go on to accomplish great things as our future leaders.”
If selected as the program’s overall winner, Sessoms will spend the next year representing Distinguished Young Women across the country through various appearances and promoting the program’s national outreach initiative of “Be Your Best Self.” The outreach program is designed to combat major issues facing children today including childhood obesity and high school drop out rates, as well as encourage young people to take an active interest in their communities through service. The outreach program consists of five elements – Be Healthy, Be Involved, Be Studious, Be Ambitious and Be Responsible.
Sessoms is a 2013 graduate of East Rutherford High School and the daughter of Sallie and Brian Sessoms.
To view the live webcast of the Distinguished Young Women National Finals, visit http://www.distinguishedyw.org on Saturday, June 29 at 7 p.m. CST. To see photos of participants during their time in Mobile, visit http://www.fpvision.com.
About Distinguished Young Women
Founded in 1958 in Mobile, Alabama, Distinguished Young Women is the largest and oldest national scholarship program for high school girls. During its 56 years of operation, the program has provided life-changing experiences for more than 730,000 young women. Last year, Distinguished Young Women provided more than $108 million in cash and college scholarship opportunities to program participants at the local, state and national level. Previously known as America’s Junior Miss, the program announced its new name in June 2010.The mission of Distinguished Young Women is to positively impact the lives of young women by providing a transformative experience that promotes and rewards scholarship, leadership and talent. National sponsors include the City of Mobile, Mobile County, Barbara Barrington Jones Family Foundation, Encore Rehabilitation, Wintzell’s Oyster House, Alabama Power Foundation, Master Boat Builders, Regions Bank, Sirote & Permutt.
For more information about Distinguished Young Women, contact Stephanie Bradford, National Headquarters Communications Director (251-622-5335, Stephanie@DistinguishedYW.org) or visit http://www.DistinguishedYW.org. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube: http://www.facebook.com/distinguishedyw; http://www.twitter.com/distinguishedyw; http://www.instagram.com/distinguishedyw; http://www.youtube.com/user/distinguishedyw.
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