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Miss_SC_Princess_Photo_2The purpose of the Miss South Carolina Princess Program is to have a concrete impact on the lives of young women by engaging, encouraging, and inspiring girls ages 5 to 16 from different walks of life to pursue their dreams and achieve their full potential.

The Miss South Carolina Princess Program goals are to encourage younger, active involvement in the Miss South Carolina Program, provide a forum for personal growth, mentor using positive role models, and to have fun.

We are very fortunate that the girls who participate in the princess program truly act as young ladies. They are respectful to each other and are 100 percent committed to taking full advantage of what the program provides.

The program encourages each miss and teen contestant to select up to two young girls to mentor. The princess and her contestant form a bond that lasts a lifetime, and we believe that would not be possible if a contestant is trying to mentor more than two princesses.

Miss South Carolina Princesses are encouraged to join their mentors in as many appearances, volunteer opportunities, and other events as possible. Princesses are present the week of the Miss South Carolina and Miss South Carolina Teen Pageants, and they participate in the production, as well as attend promotional events with their mentors.

We have a Miss South Carolina Princess Chairman and a team of volunteers that work with the princesses during pageant week and provide them with special activities. Children today learn more by doing than watching. This is why our princess program encourages all participants to volunteer in their community and attend special events designed for our contestants and their princesses.

It is also important for the parents and guardians of the princesses to be involved. We invite them to our orientation meeting and speak with them about the major goals of the program, including long-term and short-term objectives. We ask for their assistance in making sure princesses keep their appointments with their contestant mentors and take full advantage of the program.

To read more about the Miss South Carolina Princess Program, subscribe to fourpoints!

Source: Stephen M. Frocchi Photo: Becki J. Owens

Published in State & Local News

_JON0824Pageant programs have the unique opportunity to provide role models. Contestants are successful, well spoken, committed to their communities and education, and passionate about giving back. What better representatives to teach young girls about increasing sense of self worth, improving perspective toward education, helping develop and define short-term and long-term goals, providing support and encouragement, and helping girls to become self-sufficient, motivated adults?

At the same time, a princess program can be a solid fundraiser for your pageant, but how does one go about starting a program? The following steps will help guide you through the process:

  1. Identify the need you are trying to meet. Are you creating a mentor program or a program that is purely designed for the participants to have fun on stage? Identify how involved the participants will be in all aspects of the organization and how participation will benefit them, the community and the program.
  2. Define the population that the program will best serve. Determine the age group that is best served by the need you have identified.
  3. Structure the program. Map out what participation in the program will look like. Identify the three Ps: the purpose, the parameters, and the people. How will you meet the identified need, what are the key activities that will be used, and who are the people that will direct those activities
  4. Define the nature of the mentoring sessions. Establish the ways in which participants will be mentored. Regardless of the setting, the core activity of mentoring is the development of relationships that will achieve program goals.
  5. Determine what the program will accomplish and what outcomes will result. This goes back to your purpose. List each of the program goals and the specific, desired results for each goal. The nature of your mentoring sessions will help determine the types of outcomes you want to achieve for the overall program and for all the participants.

It is important to treat the princess program as a separate "business." It must have its own goals, leadership, and focus. You are preparing your future contestants, volunteers, and leaders.

For more tips on starting a princess program, subscribe to fourpoints!

Source: Stephen Frocchi Photo: John Wenger

Published in Headline News