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2013 Miss Kentucky Jr. Pre-Teen Hannah Martin says farewell to her year as Queen.

2013 National American Miss Kentucky Jr. Pre-Teen Queen Hannah Martin says farewell to her year as Queen.

After five years of hard work and dedication, I was overwhelmed with emotion to be crowned your 2013 Miss Kentucky Junior Preteen. It has been an incredible year with many wonderful experiences. I was truly honored to represent my state for National American Miss.
I had the opportunity to meet several community and state leaders. Touring the state capital with my sister queens and meeting Governor Brashear was a great experience.
I loved supporting my community at festivals, parades and fundraising events. I was excited to raise over $1,000 for breast cancer awareness with my NAM bake sale. I also collected books and helped comfort children at the Volunteers of America emergency shelter.
The national pageant in California was amazing. I had so much fun with the contestants and their families at Disneyland. I think my parents had fun too! Seeing the stars on the Hollywood walk of fame and shopping in Coconut Grove was a blast!
I was honored to place second runner up in casual wear modeling and first runner up as the most promising model at nationals.
I made so many new friends this year. Olivia, Miss Indiana, and Maddie, Miss Kansas, you will be my life-long friends. To my sister queens, Aaniyah, Brooke, and Savannah, I am so blessed to have shared this journey with you and you will always have a place in my heart.
A very special thanks to my mom and dad for supporting my dream. You are always encouraging me to do my best and never give up. Thanks to my friend, Gracie, who is more like a big sister. You are always there and even made the trip to California to cheer me on.
Thanks to Matt Leverton for being a wonderful state director and role model for so many young girls. I will remember this year forever.
To my successor, embrace this year and enjoy every moment.
Until next time,

I am your 2013 Miss Kentucky Junior PreteenHannah Martin.

Aaniyah Burnett, Miss Kentucky Princess, looks back fondly on her year as Queen.

Aaniyah Burnett, National American Miss Kentucky Princess Queen, looks back fondly on her year as Queen.

Hi everyone!
My name is Aaniyah Makay Burnett and I am your 2013 Miss Kentucky Princess! Being crowned Miss Kentucky Princess was a dream come true for me. Just like some of you, it was my very first pageant too! Since receiving that amazing honor, I have learned so much like, being confident in who I am, getting to meet some amazing people, and giving back to my community. I have been blessed to meet the Governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear and Senator Mitch McConnell. I’ve made friendships with other girls from all over the country at NAM and met my wonderful new friend Hannah Martin, my sister queen! Throughout the year I also visited other NAM pageants as royalty, flew for the first time to Anaheim, California for Nationals, had a blast at Disneyland with my mom, and even placed Top 10 at Nationals!
This May, I will be crowning the 2014 NAM Princess Queen and I look forward to a weekend of NAM fun! Even though my reign is coming to an end I will continue to volunteer and use the tools National American Miss has taught me. This is just the beginning for me and you will see me again!
I would like to say Thank you to National American Miss, Matt Leverton, and all the staff for this amazing experience. And Good luck to all the new princesses that are going to be competing this year..

Yours Truly,
“2013 Miss Kentucky Princess”
Aaniyah Makay Burnett

A look at Miss Kentucky Princess Aaniyah Burnett’s year with NAM.

A look at National American Miss Kentucky Princess Queen Aaniyah Burnett’s year with NAM.

North Carolina Cover Girl Princess, Amaris Shipman participated in the “Stuff the Bus” Zumbathon Charity Event and donated school supplies for children in Cumberland County North Carolina.

North Carolina Cover Girl Princess, Amaris Shipman participated in the “Stuff the Bus” Zumbathon Charity Event and donated school supplies for children in Cumberland County North Carolina. The event was held by Cumberland County Department of Social Services Social Workers and local Zumba instructors in the surrounding communities. The supplies she donated will go to underprivileged kids in Cumberland County (Fayetteville) North Carolina. The family friendly event had a live DJ, door prizes, and lots of fun! See National American Miss making a positive impact in the community!

Amaris Shipman is the 2013 North Carolina Princess Cover Girl.

Get to know your South Florida Jr. Teen Rebecca Markert!

“I am thrilled to have this opportunity and excited to represent the sunshine state as Miss Florida Junior Teen!”

– Rebecca Markert, Miss Florida Junior Teen

Rebecca Markert is the 2013 Miss Florida Junior Teen Queen. Rebecca is 16 years old and lives with her family in Delray Beach, Florida. She is a junior at Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, Florida, where she is an honors student; National Honors Society member; member of the school’s cheerleading squad; an actor in the fall and spring theater production; and a member of the school’s Thespians and Cappies “Critics and Awards Program” clubs. Rebecca is a New England Academy of Dance and Boca Ballet Theatre trained dancer with more than 12 years of experience. She also spent two years at the prestigious Stagedoor Manor summer camp in the Catskills.
Rebecca was named Queen of the 2013 State of Florida (South) Miss Florida Junior Teen during the July 20-21 event held in Miami. With her win, Rebecca receives a complimentary trip to the National American Miss competition in Hollywood, California this November. There she will compete against hundreds of girls from around the country for the title of National American Miss Junior Teen Queen.

Despite being new to the pageant arena, Rebecca impressed the judges with her personality, casual wear, spirit, and acting skills – winning awards in all of the aforementioned categories. Rebecca’s talent during the competition included playing the ukulele and singing. While singing came natural for the high school junior, who has performed in numerous plays and theater productions, playing the Hawaii-born ukulele was a different story. Always up for a challenge, Rebecca taught herself to play the small string instrument only months before the Miss Florida Junior Teen pageant and performed it with gusto!

Rebecca will focus on the Little Smiles charity as her Miss Florida Junior Teen campaign platform. Little Smiles is a non-profit volunteer organizations based in Florida that provides toys, movies, computers, celebrity meet-and-greets, concert and sporting event tickets, theme park trips, junk food runs, and much more to children in local hospitals, hospices and shelters throughout Florida. Through the charity, Rebecca has already had the opportunity to spend time at the Miami Children’s Hospital with some of the young patients, deliver pizza to the nurses and shoot Nerf® guns with the kids! Learn more about the organization at www.LittleSmiles.org.
New to pageants, Rebecca is thrilled to have been part of the entire Miss Florida Junior Teen experience and ecstatic that she won! She is hoping her title will allow her to bring awareness to the Little Smiles organization and help open new doors within the entertainment industry. Her aspiration is to one day be an actor in TV and film. Learn more about Rebecca Markert at RebeccaMarkert.com.

Tennessee Pre-Teen Anna Grace Smith says farewell.

Tennessee Pre-Teen Queen Anna Grace Smith says farewell.

Just one short year ago, I started the most amazing journey when I was crowned your National American Miss Tennessee Preteen queen. I had no idea at that special moment how much fun and what an honor the following year of service would be. Meeting Governor Haslam, and volunteering over 700 hours with Boys & Girls Clubs, Second Harvest, The Multiple Sclerosis Society and my own organization, Queens for a Cure and making appearances all over the great state of Tennessee with my sister queens have been times I will always cherish. Nationals in California were a fantastic experience where I walked the famed streets of Hollywood, met Mario Lopez at the Farmers Market, enjoyed Disneyland with my NAM Preteen besties, Lauren, Claire and Gracie and of course competed for the National American Miss Preteen title. All the rehearsals and parties were so much fun and Mr. Matt, you truly are the most fun and awesome state director EVER! You don’t know how much I appreciate you dressing to match my formal dress at nationals (even if it wasn’t planned) and I will never forget seeing you dance on stage at nationals! Ava, you are my cute little Princess. Taylor, I love to watch you dance, and our spontaneous swim parties are so much fun. Alex, you are such an inspiration to me and I love singing, volunteering and just hanging out with you. Sarah, you are an amazing role model. You are all amazing and fun sister queens, and you all inspire me to do more in my community and be a better person. I love you all! I am thankful for the best parents, grandparents and sisters a girl could have. Thank you for always supporting me and cheering me on at everything I do. Mom, you are my biggest inspiration because you are always there encouraging me to reach for the stars and you do so much to help others. Olivia, Macie, Kate, Kelsie, Sarah, Cade, Tyler, Ms Christa and Mrs. Jennifer, you are such wonderful friends and inspirations to me. I am blessed and love you all! Most of all I thank my Lord and Savior because I could not do any of this without Jesus Christ. It is through Him that all things are possible. To my successor – enjoy every minute of your year of service and remember that it is an honor and a privilege to wear this crown. You are a role model and an inspiration to everyone you meet. You will make many new friends and have experiences you will remember always. Take lots of pictures because this next year will go by faster than you can blink. You have the most awesome director and team, so take all the advice they offer. Have fun! Thank you Mr. Matt and the whole Tennessee NAMILY and staff– you are all so much fun and I have truly had the time of my life this past year. For the last time, I am your 2012 Miss Tennessee Preteen, Anna Grace Smith.

2012 National American Miss Jr. Teen Queen Alexandra Wallace looks back on her year of service!

Wow. What a crazy but fun year I had as the 2012 National American Miss Tennessee Jr. Teen. I am so excited to share with you all some of my favorite memories throughout this year. When my name was called I was in shock. I remained completely composed however until I saw Anna and remembered what a great group of sister’s I’d have to reign with. It was that moment when I started to cry and couldn’t compose myself for pictures after. There truly are no words to describe my national’s experience. I made some amazing friends and caught up with old ones. From crazy rehearsals, our day in Disney, and competitions we always had a great time. I even met my personal favorite Disney character Winnie the Pooh! I was able to help at Anna Grace’s queens for a cure charity pageant in October. She did a fantastic job and it was awesome to see and catch up with the other queens she had present, including Miss Tennessee Teen USA Emily Suttle. I participated in the Jingle Bell Run walk for arthritis by passing out water cups to the runners and met the governor with my fellow sister queens! However, the greatest blessing throughout this year has been furthering my platform, the American Heart Association. I spoke at various elementary schools throughout my area on the importance of keeping active and healthy through the Jump Rope for Heart program. I spoke at the state capitol and met with my local representative and senators as a high level advocate. My favorite event however was the Red Out in my high school. This was something new this year and as a school we raised 3750 for the AHA! It was so cool to see my classmate working for a cause so near to my heart. As mentioned earlier, I was truly blessed with a great group of sister queens. Ava, Taylor, Anna Grace, and Sarah what a privilege it was to reign with each of you. You all brought smiles to my face and I am so thankful for each of you. I know you will all go far wherever life takes you. I’d like to say thank you to my family; Mom, Richard, Taylor, Granny and Tate for always being my biggest support system. You all mean the world to me and I love you all. Most importantly I’d like to thank God for this amazing opportunity. This year would not have been possible without his many blessings. To the girls competing be yourself and have the time of your life! You are all beautiful and winners and I can’t wait to meet all of you. Best of luck!!

National American Miss Tennessee Jr. Teen 2012, Alexandra Wallace

National American Miss Tennessee Jr. Pre-Teen Taylor Parsons says farewell.

National American Miss Tennessee Jr. Pre-Teen Queen Taylor Parsons says farewell.

When I heard my name called as National American Miss Tennessee Jr. Pre-Teen Queen 2012, I was so excited. This year has gone by way too fast! During my reign I have volunteered at my church, collected food for Second Harvest, donated school supplies to my school, hosted a “Walk for A Cure” for Susan G. Komen, made cupcakes for police appreciation week, visited local nursing homes, Relay for Life, and rode in parades. Giving back to my community and volunteering was truly rewarding and taught my to be truly grateful for what I have. Going to Nationals in California was a blast! I rocked the stage with my clogging routine and brought home the National Talent Title! Disneyland, the Hollywood Tour, and Thanksgiving banquet were amazing experiences. I met new friends and now have friends from all across the U.S.

I want to thank God for giving me this amazing opportunity, Matt Leverton for being the best director in the world, Steve and Kathleen Mayes and Kenn and Lani Maples for a wonderful pageant system. To all my sister queens, Ava, Anna Grace, Alex, and Sarah, you are beautiful and I love you all. Mom and Dad for all your unconditional love and support, Grandma, Grandpa, Mamaw, Alex, Zack, and Averielle for always cheering me on and believing in me. You are the best family a firl could ask for and I love you all!

Best of Luck to all the girls competing this year. I can’t wait to meet each of you. This will be a weekend you will never forget! Make new friends, believe in yourself, do your best, and most of all have FUN!

Your 2012 Miss Tennessee Jr. Pre-Teen,

Taylor Parsons

North Carolina Jr. Teen Naomi Whitehead has words of encouragement for this years contestants!

North Carolina Jr. Teen Queen Naomi Whitehead has words of encouragement for this years contestants!

Hi girls! I hope you all are as excited as I am this year for the state pageant. I know some
of you are probably a little nervous because I definitely was. Then like me, you have to realize
that you’re going out there for YOU to show everyone how talented you are and how passionate
you are about winning. Being the Jr. Teen Queen has meant the world to me. It showed me that
if I’m really determined to do something I can achieve any and everything I set my mind to, and
you can too! After NAM my confidence level skyrocketed and I’ve been so much more outgoing
and ambitious ever since. I’ve worked at the Ronald McDonald House, for Red Cross, The Boys
and Girls Club, participated in walks for cancer, Haiti’s children and have even had the
opportunity to guest appear at a birthday party! Remember,it’s okay to get out of your comfort
zone sometimes. You never know, you just might like it. It’s not all about winning and taking
home a prize, it’s about the experience you had here and the new people you met.Who knows
you could find your best friend here. Girls don’t fret it’ll be a breeze if you just focus, be yourself,
and don’t forget HAVE FUN!