You wouldn’t know it by the glittering white “Miss North Carolina” sash and four-pointed crown she now wears, but Beth Stovall has actually lost 8 out of the 12 pageants she’s entered.
That’s why on Monday, the reigning Miss North Carolina 2014 brought a message of perseverance and determination to the students of Etowah Elementary.
She told students that she’d always wanted to be a singer, and art and soul was her platform for running for Miss North Carolina. Ever determined, Stovall said she wants to one day be crowned Miss America – and encouraged students to set their own goals and to never falter from them.
Whether it’s entering pageants and becoming N.C. Outstanding Little Miss like their classmate Malia Morgan, kicking a winning soccer goal, or improving upon their next test in school, Stovall told the students all their dreams are possible.
“As long as you keep trying and really believe in yourself,” she said.
Stovall then treated the school to an example of her opera singing, before sharing the microphone with Morgan who, as N.C. Outstanding Little Miss, is in Stovall’s royal court.
As part of Miss North Carolina’s royal court, Morgan explained to her classmates that she has been raising money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals on behalf of Stovall. As a team, Stovall and her court have raised $9,408 for CMN, and Morgan is hoping to raise another $450 by the end of the year.
Raising money for CMN falls under the “service” aspect of Miss America pageants, Stovall said, and is represented by one of the four points on all Miss America national contestants’ crowns. The other three points stand for scholarship, style and success, she said.
Enamored more by Stovall’s sash than her crown, students asked Stovall why she had so many pins on the back of her Miss North Carolina sash. As she pointed them out one by one, Stovall said they were given to her by other Miss America contestants, Miss America herself, and some were gathered from places she’d visited as Miss North Carolina.
Before she left, Miss North Carolina had one more pin to add to her sash: an “Honor Schools of Excellence Public Schools of North Carolina” emblem that will always remind Stovall of her visit to Etowah Elementary!
(Article written by Molly McGowan Gorsuch, Henderson County Public Schools.)