Contributed by Kaysie Price
DeKALB COUNTY, Ala. — Founded in 1958, Distinguished Young Women is the largest and oldest national scholarship program for high school girls. It has provided life-changing experiences for more than 765,000 young women across the country and more than $108 million in cash scholarships at the local, state and national levels. In addition to cash scholarships, Distinguished Young Women participants are eligible for college-granted scholarships from over 100 colleges and universities. More than $1 billion in college scholarship opportunities were provided last year, some of which included full tuition, room, and board to first-class institutions.
All participants also take part in Distinguished Young Women’s Life Skills Workshops to gain skills that will serve them well in our program and in life beyond high school. Our core workshops include interviewing skills, public speaking and Be Your Best Self (our outreach program which stresses making positive choices for yourself and your future). It’s FREE to participate!
Many participants leave the program with scholarships to help them with their college educations, but all of them walk away with friendships, life skills and increased self-confidence. Distinguished Young Women strives to give every young woman the opportunity to further her education and prepare for a successful future.
The Be Your Best Self program allows Distinguished Young Women participants to reach out and encourage young people nationwide to make a commitment to be their best selves in areas such as: academics, physical fitness, morality, character, and social and civic participation. Embracing the BYBS message empowers young people with valuable tools to face the challenges of negative peer pressure. Drawing on their own personal experiences, Distinguished Young Women program participants deliver helpful messages emphasizing the importance of setting goals and striving to reach them.
5 Elements of the Be Your Best Self Program:
- Be Healthy – Be physically fit and drug free.
- Be Involved – Serve your community.
- Be Studious – Stay in school.
- Be Ambitious – Set and achieve goals.
- Be Responsible – Live by moral and ethical principles.
The Distinguished Young Women of Dekalb County held their scholarship program on Saturday, August 3, 2019 at the Fort Payne City Hall Auditorium. The awards are below:
- Distinguished Young Woman of DeKalb County 2020: Jessica Westmoreland
- 1st Runner Up: Audrey Schrader
- 2nd Runner Up: Kayla Henderson
- "Be Your Best Self” Essay Winner: Abigail Carson
- Scholastics Winner: Jessica Westmoreland
- Talent Winner: Maegan Womack
- Self-Expression Winner: Jessica Westmoreland
- Physical Fitness Winner: Jessica Westmoreland
- Spirit of DYW Winner: Audrey Schrader
Jessica will move on to the state program that is held on January 17-18, 2020 in Montgomery, Alabama. For ticket information, please email AlabamaDYWtickets@gmail.com.
We introduced a new program this year called the Distinguished Darlings. We held a 4 hour workshop for girls grades K-6 on July 27. During the workshop, the girls took an etiquette class, learned a choregraphed routine that was performed during the DYW program, and were taught the 5 pillars of the “Be Your Best Self” outreach program. We look forward to a bigger turn out next year!
We will soon be recruiting participants from the class of 2021. Any questions about the program can be directed to Kaysie Price, our local chairman at dekalb@distinguishedyw.org.