Starkville teen named Distinguished Young Woman of Mississippi

Statewide scholarship program awarded more than $44,000 in cash scholarships to participants

Mobile, Ala. (July 25, 2011) - On July 23, Mallory Pitts of Starkville was named the Distinguished Young Woman of Mississippi and awarded $14,500 in cash scholarships during a statewide scholarship program for high school girls held at Meridian’s Temple Theater for the Performing Arts. Pitts advanced to the state competition after being selected as the Distinguished Young Woman of Starkville, where she received $2,250 in scholarship awards.

Pitts was one of 40 high school senior girls from Mississippi who competed to represent the state as the Distinguished Young Woman of Mississippi for 2012. Other award recipients included: Whitney Bradford of Hattiesburg (First Alternate, Talent Preliminary Award); Kelsey Pettus of Jackson (Second Alternate, Overall Fitness Award, Scholastics Preliminary Award); and Holly Harrington of Tupelo (Third Alternate, Talent Preliminary Winner). Participants were evaluated in the categories of Scholastics (20%), Interview (25%), Fitness (15%), Self-Expression (15%) and Talent (25%).

“Our participants this year were extremely well rounded. We had 16 different winners for the 16 preliminary awards,” said Marc Fisher, program chairperson. “Mallory Pitts will be an excellent representative for this group!”

Throughout the next year, Pitts will represent Mississippi at various public events and serve as a role model to young people by spreading the program’s national outreach message of “Be Your Best Self.”

Pitts is the daughter of Stephanie and Mike Pitts and will be a senior at Starkville Academy this fall. Pitts’ achievements include: Academic Letter Club; National Honor Society; Student of the Month; Homecoming Maid; Freshman Class Favorite; Level 7 All-Around State Champion/Alabama National Team; Alabama Level 8 Regional Team-Boca Raton, FL.; Level 9 Regional Qualifier/3rd place AL State Meet; UCA All-American Cheerleader; Cheer Force One Pilot Leadership Award/Co-Ed Squad. In addition, Pitt’s activities include: Eastern Shore Church Leadership Team; attended Student Leadership University-Orlando, FL; Student Leadership University-Washington D.C.; Junior Varsity Cheerleader; Cheerleader-Soph./Junior/Senior (Captain); Competitive Gymnast-Level 9; FBLA; Interact Club; Girls Service Club; Mu Alpha Theta; Spanish Club.

The 55th National Finals will take place on June 28, 29, and 30, 2012, in Mobile, Alabama. Pitts will travel to Mobile, Alabama along with 49 other state representatives to participate in personal development activities and community service projects before competing for the opportunity to become the Distinguished Young Woman of America for 2012 and for a share of more than $140,000 in cash scholarships. Tennessee’s Katye Brock, who will attend the University of Tennessee-Knoxville this fall, won the 2011 overall award.

For more information on Distinguished Young Women of Mississippi, please contact Marc Fisher at 601-482-3290 Mississippi@DistinguishedYW.org.

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 54 years of operation, the program has provided life-changing experiences for more than 700,000 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 levels. 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, Eastern Shore Toyota, Encore Rehabilitation, Mobile Gas: A Sempra Company, Alabama Power Foundation, Regions Bank and Master Boat Builders.

For more information about Distinguished Young Women, contact Stephanie Bradford, National Headquarters Communications Director (251-622-5335, Stephanie@DistinguishedYW.org) or visit www.DistinguishedYW.org.

Find us on Facebook and Twitter:
www.facebook.com/distinguishedyw  
www.twitter.com/distinguishedyw