Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Teen beauty queen: Scholarship pageants are an awesome experience

By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE
Published October 31, 2006

LECANTO - Kelly Roof is a Lecanto High School senior. Her mother, Denise Roof, is a Lecanto High teacher.

"My mother has always done the Lecanto High pageant," said Kelly. "I was always her little busybody backstage."

Now Kelly is onstage.

The 17-year-old cheerleader decided to give pageants a try and, after being at it for only two years, she already has two crowns.

Kelly was the 2005 Miss Teen Citrus County. She danced to Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend and left with the crown. She was encouraged to try another contest and, just as she was losing her Miss Teen Citrus County title after a year of duties, she replaced it with another.

Just for fun, she said, she entered the 2007 Miss Gainesville Teen competition and won the crown. That contest is part of the Miss USA circuit, as opposed to the Miss America circuit.

Winning it opened the door for Kelly to enter the 2007 Miss Teen Florida competition.

"It was really an awesome experience," Kelly said. "It was kind of eye-opening. It was really neat."

Besides the fun factor, Kelly said she thought entering pageants was a good idea for the scholarship awards. She hopes to attend Santa Fe Community College and the University of Central Florida to study communication and broadcasting.

Moving from the Miss Gainesville Pageant in April to the Miss Teen Florida Pageant in October, Kelly had to prepare during a particularly difficult time. She lost her father in June, but said she realized that "although I can't control the circumstances in my life, I can control my actions and how I deal with them."

She didn't place in the most recent contest, but is not discouraged.

"My pageant experience so far has been a pretty magical experience and one I have definitely learned from," she said. "I plan on doing one again."

She'll be turning 18 in December and eligible for the adult contests. Right now, though, she is focusing on her duties as Miss Teen Gainesville. These include being in the Gainesville Christmas parade and emceeing the Nature Coast and Nature Coast Teen pageants in January.

She has also visited and played with children at Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville.

[Last modified October 30, 2006, 23:29:54]