This week, Catherine White of Clayton is in Orlando, Florida, representing North Carolina in the Miss America Outstanding Teen Competition. Miss White was crowned Miss North Carolina’s Outstanding Teen on June 25 in Raleigh. Miss North Carolina Outstanding Teen is a part of the Miss North Carolina scholarship organization. White, a homeschool student who lives in Clayton, performed a tap dance to “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” and won a preliminary award for Talent as well as for Evening Gown/Onstage Question. She carries her platform and campaign slogan to the Miss America Outstanding Teen Competition. White’s platform is “the power of S.H.E.” which stands for selflessness, humility, and esteem, and her campaign slogan is “want the school to improvemake a move!”On Wednesday night, Aug. 3, Miss America’s Outstanding Teen competition held the preliminary rounds, and White was the Evening Wear/On-Stage question winner. White’s dress was a custom Jovani creation from Jewel’s Formals in Smithfield. The question she drew was posed by Maine, “What do you think about social media inhibiting our generation from developing authentic relationships?” White’s winning answer was, “So the relationships that you have with people on social media are very different from interacting with people in real life. When you’re typing something you have so much time to think about what you want to say and plan it out and portray yourself a certain way, where in real life you have to be your genuine self, and I think that is what causes an issue. Kids nowadays need to focus on being their genuine selves and be confident in that.” White will take home a $500 scholarship for this preliminary win.Catherine White is the first N.C. teen contestant to win a preliminary award in any category at Miss America’s Outstanding Teen competition.The Miss America Outstanding Teen Organization was founded in 2005, it remains one of the top providers of scholarships for teen girls in the United States awarding over $22 million in scholarship funds annually.
