Hughson High School student Shania DeJarnett is among five young women who will compete for the prestigious title of Dairy Princess during ceremonies at the upcoming District 6 Dairy Princess Contest. The event will be held Thursday, June 15 at Our Lady of Assumption Hall in Turlock.
Besides Shania DeJarnett of Turlock, contestants are Faith Larragoitiy and Karleen Lopez, both of Los Banos, Lauren Alvares of Merced, and Makayla Toste of Newman.
Shania is the daughter of Jeff and Apryl DeJarnett of Turlock. She is a senior at Hughson High School and will attend California State University, Fresno in the fall, majoring in ag marketing and sales. Apryl has been an active member of both Chatom 4-H and Hughson FFA; she is currently the Hughson FFA Chapter President and Tri-Rivers Sectional Reporter. Shania has shown replacement heifers at the Stanislaus County Fair for the past eight years.
Faith Larragoitiy is the daughter of John and Krista Larragoitiy of Los Banos. She is a second year student at Merced College and majoring in animal science and plans to transfer to San Diego State University. Faith is a member of Los Banos Community 4-H club and has shown dairy cattle for past seven years; she also has held officer positions with her 4-H club.
Karleen Lopez, daughter of Carlos Lopez and Maria Lozano of Los Banos, is a freshman at California State University, Fresno majoring in ag communications and plans to become an ag lawyer. She competed on the dairy products judging team with Los Banos FFA and is a member of the California dairy jeopardy team that will compete at the National Holstein Association convention in Washington.
The daughter of John and Tjesca Alvares of Merced, Lauren Alvarez is a senior at El Capitan High School and is dually enrolled in classes at Merced and Modesto Junior colleges. She plans to attend Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in the fall and major in dairy science with plans to transfer to Cornell Universiry to earn her degree and become a dairy nutritionist. Lauren is an active member of El Capitan-Merced FFA chapter and has competed in many contests and held multiple officer positions.
Makayla Toste is the daughter of John and Sandra Toste of Newman. She is a recent graduate of Modesto Junior College (MJC) and will attend California State University, Fresno in the fall and major in dairy science. Makayla grew up on her family's dairy farm and was a member of Newman 4-H where she showed dairy cattle at the Stanislaus County Fair. She was on the state winning dairy cattle judging team with Gustine FFA and competed at state, national and international level, traveling to Scotland. Makayla was a member of the MJC dairy judging team and co-chair of the dairy contest for MJC Field Day.
The Dairy Princess will represent the dairy industry in the counties of Alameda, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus and Tuolumne. She will serve the area as ambassador for the dairy industry at schools, service groups and with the media. The newly selected princess and her alternate will attend a training session with workshops on presentation development, promoting the California dairy industry and leadership and etiquette tools.
The contest is sponsored by the District 6 Dairy Princess Committee and the CMAB. The contest will begin at 6 p.m. with a no-host social hour, followed by dinner and the contest at 7 p.m. To purchase tickets for the contest, please contact Linda Teixeira at 634-4500 or 402-8305 or Lindsey Nunes at 678-2540. Tickets must be purchased by Monday, June 12; no tickets will be sold at the door.
California is the nation's leading milk producer. It also produces more butter and nonfat dry milk than any other state. The state is the second-largest of cheese and yogurt. Dairy products made with Real California milk can be identified by the Real California Milk or Real California Cheese seal, which certifies that the products are made exclusively with milk produced on California dairy farms.
