The Distinguished Young Women Program (DYW), formerly known as Junior Miss, is dedicated to providing young women with a platform for personal growth and development. Its mission is to empower them to develop their full, individual potential by providing scholarships, personal development opportunities, and a positive peer network.
The program itself is divided into six sections: Be Your Best Self, Scholastics, Interview, Fitness, Talent, and Self-Expression.
The Be Your Best Self program is built on its five pillars: being healthy, involved, studious, ambitious, and responsible. Participants are inspired to care for both their physical and mental health, serve their community, stay in school, be lifelong learners, set and achieve goals, and live by moral and ethnic principles. They implement this philosophy in their lives through the DYW journey, which involves visiting local non-profits and serving. Some of the non-profits visited this year included the Woodford County Food Pantry, Daisy Hill Senior Living, and The Art Village Color Run, among many others. Towards the end of the DYW Program, participants composed an essay about how their service and the pillars of the Be Your Best Self program impacted and changed their perspective on the world.
Next up are the Scholastics and Interview categories, both of which are completed off-stage and behind the scenes of the DYW Program. The Scholastics category evaluates each participant’s academic achievements, including their GPA, transcripts, academic extracurricular activities, and their ACT or SAT scores. Similarly, the Interview category provides participants with an opportunity to showcase their communication skills and articulate their thoughts and ideas through a ten-minute interview with the judges’ panel.
Following this are the three categories, all of which were demonstrated by the participants on stage: Fitness, Talent, and Self-Expression. Starting with the Fitness portion, it highlights each participant’s ability to display their personal strength and agility as they perform a group routine. The Talent portion follows, in which they showcase their technical ability, stage presence, and overall execution of their unique talent. Lastly, there is the Self-Expression portion, where participants are all given the same question to answer on stage, demonstrating their public speaking ability and confidence.
The DYW program has benefited millions of high school girls nationwide, not only helping boost their confidence but also empowering them as they enter a new chapter of their lives. Through the DYW Program of Woodford County, we raised and distributed roughly $17,000 across the 16 participants, providing a significant financial boost to their academic and personal development.
This year, the Distinguished Young Woman of Woodford County is Claire Poole, who won additional scholarships in Scholastics, Interview, and Self-Expression. She plans to represent Woodford County at the State Distinguished Young Women Program in January. We at WCHS wish her all the best in continuing her DYW journey!
