10 Area Women Competing At Miss Tennessee 2014

Ten women from the Chattanooga area are among the 36 contestants competing at this week’s Miss Tennessee Pageant in Jackson.

The pageant gets underway on Wednesday with three nights of preliminary competitions leading up to Saturday’s finale which will conclude with the announcement of Miss Tennessee 2014.  All four nights will be webstreamed at www.eplustv6.com starting at 8:45 p.m. during the preliminary rounds and at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night.

The winner, who will succeed outgoing titleholder Shelby Thompson of Franklin, receives a $13,000 scholarship and will serve as the Governor’s spokesperson for Character Education when she starts her statewide schools tour in September after she competes at the 2015 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City.   She will also be Tennessee’s Goodwill Ambassador for the Children’s Miracle Network.

Introducing the area representatives:

·      Miss Chattanooga Jaclyn Torrento will be graduating from Belmont University in August with a degree in Entertainment Industry Studies.  She was an Events Presentation Intern for the NHL’s Nashville Predators and the producer of the Urban Pop Showcase at Belmont.  She is the founder of Hands 2 Larger Service which encourages youth volunteerism and it is also her community service platform.

·      Miss Metropolitan Darby Schumacher will be attending Stanford University in the Fall where she will major in Computer Science and Economics.  The Hixson resident recently graduated from The Baylor School with a multitude of scholastic honors as one of the leading young scientists in the nation.  She received the Faculty Commendation Award and the Templeton Scholarship at Baylor and was a national Coca-Cola Scholar and one of 89 recipients of the coveted Nordstrom Scholarship.  She started a STEM education program at the Chattanooga Girls’ Leadership Academy and was an Intel International Science Finalist as well as a Chattanooga Science Fair winner and the Coca-Cola Young Environmentalist of the Year.  Her platform is Stronger STEMs, Brighter Blossoms.

Miss Tennessee Valley Hayley Lewis is a junior at Belmont University majoring in Music Business and Classical Vocal Performance. She is the Philanthropy Director for Phi Mu Sorority and is the Vice-President of the a cappella group The Beltones which finished fourth at the International collegiate championships in April at New York City.  Her platform is Children’s Miracle Network and she is an avid cyclist.

·      Miss Capital City Dacey Winkleman was named the director of the Chattanooga Environmental Lab days after graduating Magna Cum Laude from UT-Chattanooga with a degree in Molecular Biology.  The Lynchburg native was inducted into the prestigious Alpha Society for academic excellence as well as Head Majorette, Homecoming Queen and a member of Chi Omega.  Her platform is OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) 1, 2, 3.

·      Miss Country Sunshine MerylAnne Dexter of Signal Mountain is a senior at Brigham Young University majoring in Genetics and a graduate of Girls’ Preparatory School. She hopes to become a geneticist and served as a counselor at Bachman’s LEGO camp and has also worked with Bricks4Kidz.  The Make A Wish Foundation is her platform.

·      Miss Dogwood Festival Farrar Jean Ford of Tullahoma is a rising sophomore at UT-Knoxville where she is majoring in kinesiology.  Her platform is Dancing for Downs.

·      Miss Historic Jonesborough Lexi White of Chattanooga attends UT-Chattanooga and is the granddaughter of the late Amanda Whitman Henry who was Miss Tennessee 1957. The Psychology major is a graduate of The Baylor School and was Tennessee’s Princess at April’s National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.  Her platform is Blood: Water and she hopes to become a Child Life therapist.

·      Miss Music City Maria Shepherd of Cleveland is a senior at Lee University majoring in Clarinet Performance.  She wants to earn her Doctorate’s in Conducting and become a music educator.  Her platform is Alzheimer’s Awareness.

Miss Tennessee Soybean Festival Camille Garner is a senior at Tennessee Tech University majoring in Pre-Dental and Biology Health Sciences.  The Tullahoma native.  She is actively involved with the National Children’s Oral Health Foundation which is also her platform.  She will perform a jump rope routine to “The Twist” for her talent presentation.  

·      Miss Watauga Valley Ashley Broockman is a Verizon Wireless Representative and a UTC Communications graduate.   She has started CARE Actors for Kids in Chattanooga in which volunteers dress up as favorite children’s characters and visit area hospitals.