Taman Siswa

Entries from contestants in the Miss Dogwood Scholarship Pageant are now being accepted. The pageant will be held at 3 p.m. March 29 at the Siloam Springs High School Performing Arts Auditorium.

The pageant is an official preliminary to the Miss Arkansas, Miss Arkansas’ Outstanding Teen and the Miss Arkansas Teen Beauty pageants. The Dogwood winners will compete in the state pageants this summer. The newly crowned Princess Dogwood will have the opportunity to travel with the miss and teen queens to the state pageants as a state princess.

“My daughter, Jacy Alsup, won the teen title at the Dogwood Pageant last year,” Debbie Alsup, a former pageant contestant and winner explained. “It’s a wonderful scholarship opportunity, and she went on to the state level, where she was a good representative.

“Pageants teach contestants how to interview - a life skill that will always be useful. The girls learn a lot from competing, and I think it gives them more confidence and poise. The Dogwood Festival is a little later this year, but the pageant winners will reign over it.”

There are four divisions: Princess (8-12 ), Teen Beauty (13-18 ), Outstanding Teen (13- to 17-yearold high school junior ), and Miss (17-year-old high school senior to 24-year-old ). The Scholarship Pageant is open to women who live in Benton, Washington, Madison, Carroll, Boone, Crawford, Marion and Baxter counties. University of Arkansas students must have completed a minimum of 12 hours by March 25 to be eligible. The deadline to enter is March 25, but late entries may be accepted.

Dogwood is an official Miss Arkansas and Miss America Preliminary. Rich in history and social significance, the Miss America organization is a not-for-profit corporation that has maintained a tradition of empowering American women for decades.

Each year, the Miss America organization attracts more than 80, 000 contestants for competitions and fosters and a large network of more than 300, 000 volunteers.

For more information, contact Robyn Ledbetter at rstarli @ yahoo. com or call 409-0161 or visit www.missheartoftheozarks.org.