Nine High school junior girls from Ceres High School and Central Valley High School will join together for the Distinguished Young Women of Ceres program, hosted by Soroptimist International of Ceres, to be held Saturday, March 7 in the Ceres High School Small Gym/Auditorium. Participants will compete for over $3,000 in college scholarships and the opportunity to represent the city as the Distinguished Young Woman of Ceres for the Class of 2016.
The nine contestants are Beatriz Garcia, Chelsea Heras, Yulissa Rodarte, Yurixia Avalos, Nada Abdo, Gabriella Germann, Sydney Elness, Jalani Blakenship and Jacqueline Lujan.
The program is open to the public and will begin at 6 p.m. Tickets will be available for $10 in advance, or $12 at the door. Tickets can be purchase in advance at the following Ceres businesses: Ceres World Travel, Supermom's and Meyer CPR & First Aide, or you can email ceres@distinguishedyw.org to purchase tickets online.
The nine young women competing will be evaluated by a panel of five judges in the following categories: Scholastics (20%), Interview (25%), Fitness (15%), Self-Expression (15%) and Talent (25%). The participant selected as the Distinguished Young Woman of Ceres will advance to the state level at the Distinguished Young Women State Finals in Bakersfield in July, 2015, where she will join with other program representatives in competing for cash scholarships and the opportunity to represent the program as the Distinguished Young Woman of California.
The mission of Distinguished Young Women is to positively impact the lives of young women by providing a transformative experience that promotes and rewards scholarship, leadership and talent. Scholarship sponsors for the Distinguished Young Women of Ceres program include: Soroptimist International of Ceres, Ceres Lion's Club, Vilas Farms, Bertolotti Disposal, A-1 U Stor, Performance RV, Carol Nelson Staley, Jill and Bryan Hunt, Meyer CPR & First Aide, Sam's Café, Don and Coni Goudeau and Ceres Unified Teachers Association.
For more information on Distinguished Young Women of Ceres, please contact Jennifer Rossi at ceres@distinguishedyw.org.
Founded in 1958 in Mobile, Alabama, Distinguished Young Women is the largest and oldest national scholarship program for high school girls. During its 56 years of operation, the program has provided life-changing experiences for more than 700,000 young women. Last year Distinguished Young Women provided more than $108 million in cash and college scholarship opportunities to program participants at the local, state and national levels. Previously known as America's Junior Miss, the program announced its new name in June 2010.
