NATIONAL BE YOUR BEST SELF WEEK TO IMPACT THOUSANDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE NATIONWIDE
Distinguished Young Women program participants to share positive message of self-esteem and personal development
Distinguished Young Women, the 54 year old national scholarship program headquartered in Mobile, Ala., will dispatch many of the nation’s best and brightest young women to Boys & Girls Clubs and other organizations across the nation to share messages of positive self-esteem and personal development during National Be Your Best Self Week. The national event, presented by Distinguished Young Women, formerly America’s Junior Miss (AJM), will take place the week of April 25-29, 2011, and is expected to reach thousands of young people.
During National Be Your Best Self Week, program participants visit a Boys & Girls Club or other organization in their community to talk to young people about being physically fit and drug free, serving their communities, staying in school, setting and achieving goals, and living by moral and ethical principles. Each program participant will use her own talents and life experiences to present the message through creative and fun methods that engage the young people they meet. Past presentations have included dance lessons, puppet shows, community service projects, and interactive discussions.
Young people who agree to accept the BYBS challenge will complete pledge cards as a personal commitment to be healthy, studious, involved, ambitious, and responsible.
Madison Leonard, Distinguished Young Woman of America for 2010, will also participate in National Be Your Best Self Week. Leonard is a freshman at Pepperdine University.
About Distinguished Young Women & Be Your Best Self
After 54 years of providing college scholarships and important life skills for young women, the America’s Junior Miss program changed its name to Distinguished Young Women at the national finals on June 26, 2010 in Mobile, Alabama. The name change is being phased in at local and state programs through 2012. The program remains the same and includes five areas of competition: interview (25%); talent (25%); scholastics (20%); fitness (15%); and self-expression (15%), and the new name better reflects the goals and mission of the organization.
Distinguished Young Women is the oldest and largest scholarship program for high school girls. Since 1958, Distinguished Young Women has awarded more than $90 million in cash scholarships and provided thousands of young women with college-granted scholarships to colleges and universities across the nation. Each year, Distinguished Young Women makes available more than $52 million in scholarship opportunities to high school women.
In addition to providing scholarships, Distinguished Young Women challenges each participant to share its national outreach program, Be Your Best Self (BYBS), with young people across the nation. Through BYBS, participants encourage self esteem and excellence in all young people through the program’s five principles: Be Healthy, Be Involved, Be Studious, Be Ambitious, and Be Responsible.
For more information on Distinguished Young Women or National Be Your Best Self Week, visit the following links:
www.DistinguishedYW.org
www.DistinguishedYW.org/About/Be_Your_Best_Self/BYBS_Week
www.Facebook.com/DistinguishedYW
Twitter: @distinguishedyw
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