Lauren Percy won the top honors at the 7th Annual Miss New Hampshire’s Outstanding Teen Competition on Sunday, February 13th.  The Bow High School Junior also won the overall Interview award and was selected by her peers for the Lamontagne Family Congeniality Award.  Twenty-eight contestants competed for more than $3000 in scholarships and the right to compete at the Seventh annual Miss America’s Outstanding Teen in August in Orlando, Florida.  Miss New Hampshire’s Outstanding Teen Competition is a program for girls 13 to 17 years of age.  It is the little sister program to the Miss America Organization.

The competition took place at the Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy’s Spaulding Arts & Humanities Center in Derry.  For more information or to follow Lauren’s travels around the state visit www.missnh.org/teen.

Top 10 finalists: Lauren Percy, Alyssa Fernandas, Meredith Padfield (Manchester), Kathryn Carlson, Jessica Avelar, Megan Cooley, Eileen Kelley (Randolph), Melanie Konstant, Jennifer Messina (Derry) Angela Marie Conklin (Bow)

A Duluth teen was crowned Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen 2011 this weekend. Sixteen-year-old Alexis Houle was crowned Saturday night in Eden Prairie. As Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen, Alexis Houle will receive more than $5,000 in scholarship money and awards. She will participate in the Miss America's Outstanding Teen competition in August. Houle is a student at East High in Duluth. She performed a vocal selection for her talent. She also was awarded the Spirit Award.

11 contestants from around the state of Minnesota competed for the title of Miss Minnesota’s Outstanding Teen 2011. Miss North Metro’s Outstanding Teen Bailey Wachholz was named 1st runner up and Miss Red River Valley’s Outstanding Teen Brianna Drevlow was named 2nd runner up and the Talent winner. Detroit Lakes’ Outstanding Teen Claire Schiller won the areas of Interview and Scholastic Achievement. Miss Mankato's Oustanding Teen Chandra Dahlke won People's Choice award.

Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen for 2011 was crowned on Sunday at Sylacauga High School.  Mi’a Callens, a junior at Oak Mountain High School, entertained the audience with a Piano/Vocal performance of “Hiding Underwater”. She was awarded $103,800 in scholarships.  The contestants competed in a personal interview with the judges, talent, fitness, and evening gown.  With the title, Mi’a was awarded 4-year renewable full-tuition scholarships to her choice of Auburn University, the University of Alabama, Troy University, as well as a 1-year scholarship to Jacksonville State University.  She also received other cash scholarships and prizes.  Mi’a is the daughter of Cassandra and Mike Callens. 

In all, the pageant awarded over $300,000 in scholarship money.  Forty-one contestants competed in preliminary events on Saturday, with 15 finalists competing on Sunday afternoon. The Top 15 finalists included: Mi’a Callens (winner) of Birmingham, Megan Smith (1st Alternate) of Hartselle, Hayley Barber (2nd Alternate) of Pelham, Bria Kalpen (3rd Alternate) of Phenix City, Cassidy Jacks (4th Alternate) of Springville, Shelby Andrews (Finalist) of Dothan, Susanna Bagwell (Finalist) of Birmingham, Elizabeth Anne Beasley (Finalist) of Eufaula, Hannah Brown (Finalist) of Northport, Madge Ellis (Finalist) of Sylacauga, Grace Kurosaka (Finalist) of Columbiana, Ashley Payton (Finalist) of Sylacauga, Ansley Rosson (Finalist) of Mobile, Georgia Sheridan (Finalist) of Prattville, and Emily Winkler (Finalist) of Dora.  Megan Smith of Hartselle was also the overall Academic Winner. She received $98,200 in scholarships.  Erin Shrewsbury and Elizabeth Anne Beasley were also awarded academic scholarships from Troy University.   Mi’a Callens will compete for the title of Miss America’s Outstanding Teen in August in Orlando, Florida.

The Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen Pageant is part of the Miss America Organization.

Photos provided by Danny Barrett of Pageant Works

Miss Outstanding Teen will debut a new program in August.

Miss America's Outstanding Teen Organization is pleased to announce a new sponsor who will be awarding a $500 Non- Finalist Interview Award. This award is made possible through the generosity of Valerie Hayes of The Pageant Coach(TM) and radio host of Pageant Talk Radio. MAOTeen thanks Valerie for her continued support of our program and our contestants.

"I'm very excited to be sponsoring the Non-Finalist Interview Award for the Miss America's Outstanding Teen program" said Hayes. "The young women who compete in MAOTeen are the best and the brightest of their generation and it's my honor to promote academic achievement, leadership in community service, and public speaking skills through this award."

Valerie will also be hosting some of our team on Pageant Talk Radio on Friday, March 11 at 3 p.m. CST. Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2011 Lacey Russ, Jennifer McKenna, Princess Camp Coordinator, and Tawni Darby, a new team member that will be introducing our new Teens In Training Camp program will be joining Valerie for a full hour to talk about MAOTeen and the exciting changes that are taking places in our program.

"The MAOTeen program is a clear leader in encouraging positive achievement in our nation's youth," said Hayes, "I'm thrilled to be partnering with them in recognizing the extraordinary achievements of these young women."

We are pleased to announce that the winner of our 2011 Precious Princess Feature Contest will receive a dress from Sherri Hill’s Children Collection, courtesy of La Casa Hermosa. 

The children’s collection by Sherri Hill is a new addition to her design offerings and features whimsical and age appropriate dresses for young girls.

Our 2011 Precious Princess will put her new dress to good use during MAOT pageant week in August, where she will take place in Princess Camp. Princess Camp is a once-in-a-life time experience for young ladies that will include sleepovers, time with mentors and new friends, and production numbers with the MAOT contestants.

Finally, our Precious Princess will be featured in the June/July issue of fourpoints magazine. We are proud to partner with the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Organization and La Casa Hermosa to make this our best Precious Princess Feature Contest ever.

To enter the Precious Princess contest: http://fourpointsmagazine.com/contests

As part of her platform, Miss Puerto Rico’s Outstanding Teen Monica Arias held a series of seminar in her hometown of Toa Baja for girls ages 6 to 12, which consisted of modeling lessons and seminars regarding the importance of self-esteem. 

The final event, which consisted of a graduation, was a start studded event where Miss Puerto Rico Mariselle Morales sang the National Anthem, as well as Monica Arias who also sang. Monica received from the mayor the Key to the city of Toa Baja for her dedication and hard work. This makes Monica the youngest person ever to receive such honor.

Natalie Ragazzo was recently crowned Miss New Jersey's Outstanding Teen 2011 by her predecessor, Andie Babusik. Natalie is a 15-year-old vocalist from Pennington, New Jersey. She will go on to compete at the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant in Orlando this August. Congratulations, Natalie!

Photo: Richard Krauss

Miss America's Outstanding Teen (MAOT) Organization welcomes Michael Hannah as a new member of the MAOT Board of Directors. Michael brings with him a great deal of experience. Most recently he served as Treasurer of the Miss Nevada Scholarship Organization Board of Directors and was the State Director for the Miss Nevada's Outstanding Teen Program.      

"It is an honor and a privilege to be part of the Miss America's Outstanding Teen Organization Board of Directors and it comes with tremendous responsibility," said Hannah. "I continue to be amazed by the growth and accomplishments of the teens who participate in this program. I am committed to expanding my involvement with the MAOT organization and its vision to provide some of the best opportunities for scholarships and community involvement to teens across the United States."

Michael has been affiliated with the Miss America Program for 21 years. During this time he has had the opportunity to judge State and Local Pageants in 33 states and the District of Columbia. He has served on the Miss Texas Organization's Board in various roles. And in 2004 Michael's efforts were recognized and he was inducted into the Miss Texas Organization Hall of Honor.

Throughout his professional career, Michael has served in managerial roles with IBM, British Petroleum, and Enron Corporations, and earned a Top Secret National Security Clearance while engaged on a three-year project with the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC. Michael is currently the President and CEO of H3, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in Financial Systems Implementations, Business Process Improvement, and Business Realignment/ Reengineering. This position requires him to spend lots of time in the air commuting between his residence in Houston and his projects around the world.

He is a graduate of California State University, Fresno, with an undergraduate degree in Accounting and is the father of two grown sons: Kristoffer "Kit" Hannah and Jonathan Michael Hannah, both residing in Northern California.

Kim Parrish, president of Miss America's Outstanding Teen, recently announced that the organization is unveiling a new program called Teens in Training.

This program is geared toward young women who are interested in participating in the Miss America's Outstanding Teen program, but would like more information and an in-depth look at the competition.

"You don't have to be a titleholder to participate, although you can be," says Kim. "It's really a workshop that shows you what it is like to compete at the pageant. We think it is going to be a great opportunity for mentoring and learning."

Kim hopes that the first Teens in Training program will take place at the 2011 MAOT pageant in Orlando. Tawny Darby, a former Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen, will be spearheading the new program.

Stay tuned for more information!