The time of year has come again for the Distinguished Young Women scholarship program to kick off its competition. It’s a big year for the Pike County DYW, as it has more participants than the past two years combined.
Programs like DYW are few and far between. These girls are encouraged to be their best selves, to volunteer and to be a light in their community. The program was designed to bring confidence to high school girls by rewarding them with scholarships to help them achieve their goals through a college education.
But what does it mean to “be your best self?” The DYW program describes it as being healthy, involved, studious, ambitious and responsible. Girls are encouraged to stay fit and drug free, serve in their community, stay in school, set and achieve goals and live by moral and ethical principles.
As our world changes and develops, these core values remain extremely important, especially for young women. These girls are not judged based upon how they look in a swimsuit or a pageant dress. The only category their physical appearance even comes into play is fitness, and that is only 15 percent of their score. The DYW pageant pushes these young women to strengthen their mind, their confidence and their ambitions.
Pike County is full of talented and intelligent young women and more are participating in DYW each year. As a community, we should come together to support these young women as they work to make their future goals a reality.
This year’s DYW program is Saturday, Aug. 1, and the week leading up to the event is packed full of preparations for these young women. They will continue attending workshops, visit with local community organizations, continue fundraising for scholarship money and more.
To support this program, we can attend a fundraiser at Milky Moo’s on Thursday, July 30, from 2 to 5 p.m. Forty percent of ice cream sales during this time will be donated to DYW to be used as scholarship money. The girls will also have $1 good luck posters for sale at this event. Anyone can pay $1 to sign the poster wishing the girls good luck, with all the money going to the scholarships.
Support these young women in all of their hard work to become proud representatives of Pike County, and don’t miss the program on Aug. 1 at Claudia Crosby Theater 2 p.m.