15 vying for Distinguished Young Woman title

Published 11:40 am Thursday, August 30, 2018

STANFORD — Madelyn Day’s days as the reigning Lincoln County Distinguished Young Woman (DYW) are about to reach their end, as the 2018 DYW winner will hand over her title to another deserving young woman in just nine days.

The 2019 Distinguished Young Woman Scholarship Program will get underway on Saturday, Sept. 8 at the Stuart Underwood Auditorium, with 15 Lincoln County senior girls taking the stage to compete for over $22,100 in cash scholarships and hundreds of thousands of dollars in college-offered scholarships.

The candidates for the 2019 DYW title are: Raelyn Amon, Maddy Boyle, Sara Mae Bullock, Tabitha Cain, Hannah Jacobs, Emma King, Anna Lane, Grace Muse, Katherine Rowe, Celia San Juan, Emery Sears, Catherine Smith, Alexa Wesley, Kaitlynn Wilks and Jessie Wilson.

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The 2019 DYW program, which begins at 6:30 p.m., is the culmination of five weeks of intense practices, mock interviews, talent reviews and dress rehearsals.

The winner of the 2019 Lincoln County DYW program will receive a $4,100 cash scholarship. The first runner-up will receive a $3,100 cash scholarship, second runner-up will receive a $2,100 cash scholarship, third runner-up will receive a $1,100 cash scholarship and fourth runner-up will receive a $550 cash scholarship.

To earn the cash and college-offered scholarships available, the DYW candidates first have to be evaluated on the qualities and characteristics that make up the total young woman, with an emphasis on fitness (15%), talent (20%), self expression (15%) and interview (25%) as well as academics (25%).

Since scholastic achievement is what the DYW program is all about, high academic performance will be well rewarded. A $1,000 cash scholarship will be awarded to the overall scholastic achievement winner and a $500 scholarship to the runner-up. Three additional runner-up scholarships in the amount of $425 will also be awarded.

Five winners will be chosen in each of the preliminary categories. The interview winners will each receive a $450 cash scholarship while talent winners each receive $335 scholarships. A cash scholarship of $275 will be presented to the overall winners in both the fitness and self-expression categories

Two memorial cash scholarships – the Jennifer Baker Memorial “Be Your Best Self” Award and the Phyllis Cooley Memorial Spirit Award – will also be awarded. Each of the scholarships is worth $500..

DYW tickets are $10 and may be purchased in advance by calling 606-365-9782.

Individual DYW photos courtesy of Barbara Ann’s Photography.