Many Holbrook residents are familiar with Miss Navajo County Outstanding Teen Emily Eavenson. She has graced Navajo County, and especially Holbrook, with her presence in the schools, at most community events and at fundraisers as she campaigned for her platform, Hope for Childhood Hunger.
A stereotype often surrounds pageant titleholders, labeling them as materialistic and consumed with their outward appearance. But in most cases, this could not be further from the truth, especially within the Miss America Organization, one of the largest scholarship providers for young women in the world. In order to participate in the pageant, Emily had to prove her competency in several areas of life including talent, interview, eveningwear, fitness and scholastic.
Getting ready for the pageant required hours of preparation, including working with a vocal coach, raising the necessary funds, practicing walking with poise and studying current events, all in addition to learning hair and makeup techniques.
On Aug. 2, 2014, Emily received her crown and since that evening nearly a year ago, her life has been a whirlwind of activity.
The executive director of the Miss Navajo County Scholarship Program, Rachele Baldwin, noted that Emily has spent 10 to 15 hours every month rendering service for her platform and her community.
As part of her efforts to bring attention to childhood hunger, Emily issued a challenge in March of this year to students at Hulet Elementary School in Holbrook to donate as many cans of non-perishable food as possible.
Responding to the challenge to March Out Hunger, many of these young students helped Emily collect cans of food to donate to the Holbrook Food Bank for families in need. Sandy Carlisle’s fourth grade class came in first, donating 132 cans. In second place was John Bokker’s fifth grade class with 120 cans and in third place, Kara Gardner’s third grade class with 117 cans. As a reward, Emily paid a visit to last Friday, bringing ice cream floats and pizza to those students who contributed so much.
When talking about her experience over the past year, Emily said, “Winning the pageant gave me a chance to bring a new light and a new voice to something that I really care about. The service aspect is my favorite part of it. I’ve worked really hard, and I’ve grown so much and learned a lot about myself.”
Emily has worked with Miss Navajo County Abrianna Swanson and Miss White Mountains Outstanding Teen Aspynn Seymore, and all three have taken on the responsibility of being positive role models. They abstain from drinking and smoking, and post uplifting things on social media.
Baldwin says of Emily, “(She) has gone above and beyond expectations as a representative for Navajo County and the Miss America Organization.”
Emily hopes to take her platform, Hope for Childhood Hunger, to the next level as she competes in the Miss Arizona Outstanding Teen Pageant. Everyone has the opportunity to vote for her for the People’s Choice Award at
peopleschoice.missarizona.org beginning June 1 and continuing until the week before the pageant is held on June 27.
Miss Navajo County Outstanding Teen Emily Eavenson celebrates a successful food drive for the Holbrook Food Bank over ice cream floats and pizza with Hulet Elementary School students, including Alyssa Woolford (left).
