nam – Page 44 – Matt Leverton’s National American Miss (NAM) Pageants Blog

MS Walk and National American Miss

The MS walk for middle Tennessee, is coming up soon and a friend of the pageant is getting a team together. The MS Society is a very special organization and one that is dear to my heart. My mother was diagnosed with MS when I was 19 years old and since then I have seen her battle every step of the way. If you would like to donate or join the team please go to: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/TNSWalkEvents?team_id=188419&pg=team&fr_id=13585&s_tafId=146990

Here is some info from the MS Society:

Team Queens

Help Our Team in the Fight Against MS!
The number of people living with multiple sclerosis increases every hour of every day. This astonishing rate is not going to slow down, let alone stop, until we’ve found a cure. Research has made some incredible advances recently, but the world can still only offer disease management drugs and therapies to the 400,000 people living with MS in America.
We’ve formed a team for the MS Walk because the National Multiple Sclerosis Society funds more MS research than any other private organization. In addition to supporting studies which hope to reveal the cause and course of the disease, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society also provides much needed education, programs, and services to everyone who is affected by MS – including the diagnosed, their friends and families, and the healthcare professionals who work with them.
Join our team as a walker or a volunteer! Make a donation online! Send in a check! There are so many ways to make a difference in the fight against MS, and it all begins right here.

Press Release from the NAM National Office

Attention NAM Girls:

2010 Appointed Representative Program is now accepting applications! If you are 19 or 20 years old you can apply for our Miss Division. If you are ages 4-18 and reside in Alaska, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, or Wyoming you can also apply to be a NAM State Queen. You can download an application at http://www.namiss.com/findyourstate/namiss/car.html. National American Miss is the largest pageant in the nation for young women. We are so excited to let you know that you can be a part of this exciting program for your state! At this time, we are not offering a program in your state for your age group. However, we hope you will be a part of our Appointed Representative Program. The girl that is selected as the State Queen will be given the opportunity to compete at the National Pageant for the title of NATIONAL AMERICAN MISS for her age division. Appointed Representative Applicants Scoring System: Phone Interview – 35%, Resume – 25%, Essay – 25%, Picture – 15%. Over $500,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded at Nationals, including a 2010 Ford Mustang Convertible. My name is LaKishia Edwards. I am the NAM National Coordinator. If you have any questions feel free to give me a call at 281-496-9000 or send me an e-mail at ledwards@namiss.com. You know you can always reach me on Facebook – “NAM LaKishia Edwards”. Find out more about National American Miss at www.namiss.com.

2009 South Carolina National American Miss Stephanie Hall Changing Lives

While I was at the national pageant I had the pleasure to speak with South Carolina’s Miss, Stephanie Hall. She told me all about the events she has attending and appearances she has made. Below is one special story that she wanted to share.

        Visiting the residents at Skylyn Place Retirement Home has been one of my favorite things to do as Miss SC. My first time visiting was a blast! I met many of the sweet residents, took lots of pictures with them, and got to know a little bit about each one of them. I sat down with some of them while they played games and watched television. I made lots of new friends!

        We had such a great time on my first visit I was invited to come back for their Christmas party a few weeks later! At the party I visited with some of my new friends, met all of the other residents, and even met some of their family members. Of course, we took lots of pictures, too! I was given the awesome opportunity of speaking to everyone there about myself and my platform, breast cancer awareness. Then we sang Christmas carols and chowed down on some yummy desserts. One lady challenged me to a dance-off to see if she could win my crown! But I told her I’d better not agree to that because she would probably win.

       Volunteering with this amazing group of people has been such a rewarding experience! I showed up at Skylyn Place with the intention of encouraging the people there, and they ended up encouraging me! So many of the residents do not ever have visitors, and I really enjoyed spending time with them. The staff is great, too, and I plan on going back very soon!

National American Miss Jr. Teens rock it out on Band Hero during the National Pageant

Band Hero Taylor Swift National American Miss

Check the Jr. Teens rocking out to Taylor Swift’s “You Belong To Me” at NAM’s national pageant.

Gabriella Torkornoo, Miss Oregon Princess, served food to the homeless

Gabriella Torkornoo, Miss Oregon Princess, served food to the homeless for a project called “Under the Bridge” this past October . It was put on by a local church in her hometown of Eugene, OR. There were close to 200 people that showed up to receive a hot meal, have a haircut, have bikes repaired, and to get clothes that were donated for the event. A local new station covered the story. Gabriella stood in the serving line and handed out big handfulls of chips to everyone who came through. This was a great experience for her, and she looks forward to doing it again next year!

Charlotte Norsworthy, The March of Dimes and National American Miss

I am so proud of Charlotte Norsworthy! Check out the letter from the March of Dimes that I received.

On behalf of the March of Dimes Georgia Chapter, we are delighted to have Charlotte Norsworthy serve as a passionate ambassador in our mission to improve the health of all babies by preventing birth defects, prematurity and infant mortality. With great leadership, compassion and generosity, Charlotte has dedicated her voice and her actions in helping raise awareness and critical funds for babies born prematurely, like her brother Tillman and the baby sister she lost.

Prematurity is the most serious, common and costly problem facing newborns and obstetricians in America with more than 500,000 babies born too soon or sick. In Georgia, the premature birth rate increased nearly 24% between 1996 and 2006. 30,000 babies will die before their first birthday.

In just a very short amount of time, Charlotte has made a lasting and significant difference in the lives of families and babies here in Georgia:

· She has donated a portion of her winnings from the Miss Pre-Teen Georgia pageant to the March of Dimes Georgia Chapter.

· With great poise and sincerity, she delivered a touching television appearance on Fox 5 Atlanta to launch our Prematurity Awareness Campaign this November.

· Through her Bundles for Babies initiative, she delivered more than 60 blankets to families at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Atlanta Medical Center, Grady Hospital and Memorial Hospital in Savannah.

· She won over hearts at our Savannah Signature Chefs event this month with her message of hope.

Every baby is a miracle, and we can think of no greater issue than the health of our children. Charlotte is a shining example of one young person making a huge difference in the lives of many. Her efforts also move us closer to our vision of a day when every family will know the joy of a healthy baby.

Sincerely,

Laura Johnson

Director of Field Services

Riley Yates, SC Junior Preteen National American Miss Queen

Riley Yates, SC Junior Preteen National American Miss Queen. She has been busy raising money for a great organization and walking for the cure. She walked with the Longs Drugs Team for the First Ladies Walk For Life on October 3rd. She has also raised over $1500 for the Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation. Riley is now preparing for the biannual “Nutcracker Fantasy”, a fundraiser for the local children’s shelter where she is a featured soloist and principal cast member. She has been enjoying long weekend rehearsals with her dance friends for a great cause!

We are in the new office!

I am so excited to announce that we moved into our new office in Nashville! We are located in the historic Customs House in downtown Nashville. Our new address is:

National American Miss

701 Broadway

Suite B-14

Nashville, TN 37203

If you in downtown Nashville anytime, come by and say hi!

~Matt

North Carolina Junior Pre-Teen National American Miss Queen, Tara-Nicole Azarian

Tara-Nicole Azarian, founder of the Tara’s Teddys organization (www.TarasTeddys.com) recently participated in a fundraiser for the Preston Loyd foundation (http://www.quickitright.com/prestonloydfoundation/). She and her mom both painted faces & polished fingernails for the Princess for a Day booth. $400 was raised in one afternoon for Preston & his family. The fundraiser was featured on local Fox news. Tara-Nicole also made a Tara’s Teddy visit to Preston’s home & delivered a huge brown bear to Preston & also brought one for Preston’s 8 year old sister Taylor. (see photo)

In addition, Tara-Nicole has made personal appearances at:

The Miss Charlotte USA pageant, The Cabarrus County Fair Pageant, Freestyle Amusement park & was featured in the Mooresville Tribune.

She also continues her acting & over the summer & this fall she has filmed or will finish filming the following movies: “Katy Dee Girl Detective”, “Budz”, “On The Market”, “Demonica’s Reign”, “Crossroads, Legend of The Oracle Stone”, “Champagne” & “Judith”.

Pageant Scores Are Out!

Dear 2009 National American Miss State Finalists:

We are proud to announce that all of the pageant score reports were mailed this week. That’s for all states produced by the Nashville office: Oregon, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

The last of the score reports completed on October 5, woo hoo!

The National American Miss score reports are like no other to be found anywhere in pageantry. However, they are a lot like the ones you get at home from the standardized aptitude testing you get at school. That is the format after which our score reports were first patterned when statisticians developed the reports for us twelve years ago.

It’s an individualized comprehensive score report prepared for each and every contestant, compiling and displaying, averages, and quartile breaks (based on the bell curve) for each and every age group. That’s a checked and double checked compilation of thousands of individual scores from the judges. Thankfully, the computer programs do all the work.

Watch for your personalized score report in the mail over the next several days!

Congratulations to all the 2009 State Finalists for a job well done

~Matt