After months of preparing for the moment, three young ladies will be putting their best foot forward this weekend as they compete to be the 2025 Distinguished Young Woman of Newton County at Huff Auditorium on March 16.
The program is open to high school juniors and this year’s participants include Addisyn Fox, who attends Newton County Academy, Lexi Stevens, and Emily Terrell, who both attend Newton County High School. Along with competing for the tile of DYW of Newton County, the three sophomores will also be competing for $4,000 in cash scholarships and the opportunity to compete for the title of Distinguished Young Woman of Mississippi, which takes place in Meridian in July.
The Little Sisters for this year’s program are Kaylyn Clayton and Bella Grace Jones, who attend Newton County High School, and Cami Weems, who attends Newton County Academy. Little Sisters are high school sophomores who assist the program participants backstage, allowing the little sisters to see the program from the inside and understand what competing for the title is about.
Lauren Carson, the Chairman of Distinguished Young Women of Newton County, said that the girls had put in plenty of hard work to get to this moment and knows they’re ready to shine.
“We’ve got some hard-working young ladies. We got started in January and hit the ground running,” said Carson. “They’ve been working really hard on their fitness, working really hard to make sure their talents are ready, and we’re just all really excited to see how they do on stage on Saturday!”
Before the program on Saturday evening, the three young women will have already completed half of their scoring for the title by way of Scholastics and Interviews.
During the program, the young women will compete in talent, self-expression, and fitness to round out the scoring for the program.
The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, with doors opening at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15 and program books will be sold at the door for $5.
