People’s Choice

At Contestant’s Day, the Miss Oklahoma Organization rolled out a scholarship fundraiser which could help your favorite contestant make it into the Top 11! With the 40th anniversary occurring this year, there will not be a Top 15, but there will be a Top 11 – with one contestant who has received the most votes making the cut.

This opportunity is in honor of our own Miss Oklahoma, Betty Thompson, who was selected as the People’s Choice during the Miss America pageant. All proceeds will also benefit the scholarship fund, providing additional scholarships for your Miss Oklahoma contestants!

Voting is live from now until June 7th at 6:00 PM. $1 = 1 VOTE!

To vote, visit Miss Oklahoma and click the “VOTE” button below the contestant you wish to vote for. You will be re-directed to a PayPal site where you can enter the dollar amount/number of votes for your contestant with a credit card. All votes are confidential.

Furthermore, you can enter as many “votes” (dollars) that you would like to donate at one time. For example, $20 = 20 votes. The quantity will always be listed as “1” but the amount of votes is determined by the dollar amount you enter in the “Donation amount” field.

Voting has begun! Let’s get going and put Miss Green Country in the Top 11!

VOTE HERE

(I am at the very bottom of the page…looks like this:)

Send a Little Love to Room 34

Imagine being five years old, and you are told your teacher is competing at Miss Oklahoma. She will wear a princess dress, she will sing, and she could become Miss America some day. I’m not sure if anyone can fathom what that might mean to a child, but I know of twenty sweet faces who want to see this unbelievable event with their own eyes.

Teach For America places corps members in schools which are located in low socio-economic areas. My students must apply and meet the criteria for Head Start in order to attend, making it little more than a dream to lavishly spend money for their families to attend Miss Oklahoma. At $10 a ticket, their brothers and sisters want to go as well – but around $50 a family, it’s a great expense.

I will be selling Scentsy to fundraise for my students and their families to attend Miss Oklahoma in June! Not only will they be experiencing the arts, but they are exposed to what could happen if they work hard and grow their brains. In 1993, Miss Oklahoma came to the Shawnee Public Library to speak and perform her talent. As a four-year-old, I cannot recall her message, but for the first time ever I thought the flute was kind of cool.

As I left with an autographed photo in hand, we saw Miss Oklahoma’s official car and of course I had to take a picture with it! Donning my best dance pose in curls and polka dots, I beamed next to her bright red car. Little did I know that I could some day be competing to wear her crown.

I know that if I can be affected in such a way, my students can and will benefit from the opportunity to see not just one Miss Oklahoma – but Miss Oklahoma from the past forty years, and a brand new Miss Oklahoma crowned. Please help me raise funds for my students to see Miss Oklahoma by ordering Scentsy from the link below. Twenty-five percent of the profits have been generously donated to me by David of DC Cake Appeal! Thank you David, and thank you to everyone for your orders!!

MISS OKLAHOMA SCENTSY FUNDRAISER

Holiday Home Tour

Sunday, December 4th was quiiiiiite chilly, but so much fun! I was invited to welcome guests at the Jenks Holiday Home Tour. In its 20th year, the Holiday Home Tour is a fundraiser for the Jenks Vocal Music department. Several of my sorority sisters and college friends were ‘Trojanaires” and I was thrilled to volunteer! Not only are my friends incredibly talented, but they quite obviously loved this organization.

Arts in education are highly important to me, as a first-year teacher, and I can only hope my students have the same opportunities my friends had! There were four homes on the tour and they were full the entire time. My shift ran from 2:45-5:00 at the Richardson’s home which was absolutely gorgeous! Miss Oklahoma volunteer and Tulsa Kiwanian, Richard Jaegar, stopped by and it was nice to chat with him about the last few months and both of our teaching experiences. I met several members of the Trojan music department too and holy moly – are they talented!

Jenks Holiday Home Tour

As I listened to parents discuss their children’s AP classes and college opportunities, I was reminded of the small distance between my students homes and Jenks, but the drastic achievement gap. The students I teach were born into low-income areas – something they had no control over. It really lit a fire within me to get my students into magnet or charter schools in order for them to have the same fantastic opportunities the children of Jenks have had. All of my students have different interests – but several have already showed a passion for dance, music or another art form, and I can only hope to provide them the chance to further these talents like the students I met!

The Beginning

…is always the hardest part! Setting up the new blog has been a struggle – themes, finding free headers that actually fit the size needed, and widgets…oh my! Now that the initial words have been typed and I think there is some sort of organization, we can truly begin.

On Saturday, January 22nd I was awarded the opportunity to serve as Miss Sooner State 2011. That chilly Oklahoma Saturday was not my first rodeo, and after consistently going home from local pageants as the 1st or 2nd runner-up, I had made my peace with whatever path God had created for me. Fortunately, His plan and mine were in line that evening and I know I was provided the title of Miss Sooner State for so many reasons!

As Miss Sooner State, I look forward to the endless possibilities which are ahead. Though June 11th is a mere four months and four days away, I am not one to be slowed or deterred by a short time frame. Last year I was so overwhelmed by the daily demands of being a sorority President during the once-in-a-lifetime Centennial year, trying to find time and space to exercise, eat well and practice a tap dance in a 60-year-old sorority house, and maintain the grades I expected of myself. The time slipped away so quickly and when looking back I was not able to completely enjoy and live life to its fullest potential.

This year, so much has changed. I am in my last semester of college and have had a job lined up since November – working as an inner-city Early Childhood teacher in Tulsa through the Teach For America program. After living in the dorms and moving straight into a 91-girl-filled sorority house for 2 1/2 years, I am in a small house with three other girls, off campus….and with my very own kitchen! During college, I have always maintained the kind of lifestyle where my friends saw me dashing off to meetings and often leaving one early to make it to another. This semester, I am taking a mere thirteen hours and have decided to allow the younger generations to take the lead where I left off on campus.

I am blessed to be Miss Sooner State, not just because my platform hits home for me, but because of the wonderful and positive people who will be by my side the whole way. Miss Sooner State is not like other Miss America Organization pageants, as it does not have a board of directors to fundraise, schedule events and appearances for their title holder, or offer years of experience. Though this sounds daunting, I am the luckiest girl heading to Miss Oklahoma because I have Selby by my side. Selby is my director or “mentor,” as the Miss Oklahoma Organization is calling her, and no amount of money or time could ever be greater than what she has already offered in our short time together – support. As a young twenty-something, Selby lives in Houston, but we BBM (Blackberry Messenger) at least twelve hours out of the day. She offers great advice, positive feedback, and I already know that we will be very close friends.

Selby also proposed the idea for a fundraiser to help with the costs of competing for Miss Oklahoma.  Scentsy is a line of wickless home fragrances that melt in special “Scentsy Pots.” It is a great alternative to candles, and more powerful than any candle I have found! Not only do they smell great, but they also make perfect gifts! Selby’s favorite is Skinny Dippin’, which I’ll be ordering now. I love Gingersnap, Toasted Caramel Sugar and Vanilla Walnut. If you order through the link below, 40% of the profits from your purchase will benefit Miss Sooner State!

Scentsy For Miss Sooner State

This is just the beginning, but keep checking back as I will be discussing more about why I became involved in the Miss America Organization, what I am doing as Miss Sooner State, and how you can become more involved!

P.S. If you know what a widget is, or how to use such a thing, let me know!