Two Demopolis High School students have been named to the Distinguished Young Women of Alabama program to be held in Montgomery later this month.
DHS seniors Shoni Jones and Madeline Warren will each join other students from across Alabama for the 59th Distinguished Young Women of Alabama program to be held Jan. 15 and 16 at Frazer United Methodist Church.
Jones is representing Marengo County while Warren, a resident of Uniontown, is representing Perry County.
The two arrived in Montgomery on Jan. 8 and will stay with host families around the Montgomery River Region. While in Montgomery, they will be visiting various groups and community venues all while preparing for the program. Participants will compete for $41,000 in cash scholarships and over $2 million in college granted scholarships as well as the opportunity to represent the state as the Distinguished Young Woman of Alabama for 2016.
The 52 young women competing will be evaluated by a panel of five judges in the following categories: Scholastics (25 percent), Interview (25 percent), Fitness (15 percent), Self-Expression (15 percent), and Talent (20 percent). The participant selected as the Distinguished Young Woman of Alabama will advance to the national level at the 59th Distinguished Young Women National Finals in Mobile in June of 2016, where she will join with 49 other state representatives in competing for cash scholarships and the opportunity to represent the program as the Distinguished Young Woman of America.
While in Montgomery, Jones will be staying with Josh and Jayme James, who are one of the program’s host families. Her roommate for the week will be 2016 Escambia County distinguished Young Woman, Morgan Manning. She is the daughter of Sheri Allison Jones, Shone Jones and step-mother Lisa Jones.
Warren will be staying with host family Bryan and Sabrina Hubbard. Her roomate for the week will be the 2016 DeKalb County Distinguished Young Woman, Ashleigh Gwaryanski. She is the daughter of Louise Warren and granddaughter of Tom and Jacki Belcher, all of Uniontown.
Distinguished Young Women of Alabama sponsors include — Silver: ALFA, Auburn University at Montgomery and Robert Trent Jones. Bronze: LogoBranders, PrimeSouth Bank and Sterling Bank. Other Sponsors include Buses Unlimited, AUM Office of Orientation and Transitions, Paul Robertson Photography, Alabama Cattlemen’s Association, Kiwanis Club, Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, Debra Wiggins, Nancy’s Italian Ice and Wintzell’s Oyster House.
For more information on Distinguished Young Women of Alabama, please contact Committee Chair, Carna Triftshauser at 334-538-4451 or alabama@distinguishedyw.org.