Here they are ... queens prep for stage

Jun. 19—Local pageant queens from across Sampson County are prepping for the Miss North Carolina competition, which kicks off on June 22. Leading up to that journey, they stopped by to visit with county leaders and share a little bit about their platforms.

As an official state preliminary associated with the Miss America Organization, the Miss North Carolina Organization is a part of the largest scholarship providing organization to women in the world. Miss North Carolina, as longtime Miss Spivey's Corner Pageant director Wayne Edwards and pageant queens touted, provides young women an opportunity to further their personal and professional goals and instill a spirit of community service through a variety of unique statewide community-based programs.

The Sampson County Board of Commissioners recently recognized local contestants in the Miss North Carolina and Miss North Carolina's Outstanding Teen Pageants. Local titleholders will begin statewide competition in High Point this Thursday, June 22, with the contest extending to Saturday, June 24.

Four queens shared some words with the board, explaining their community service initiatives.

They included Carly Ramsey, Miss Newton Grove's Teen 2023; Madison McVey, Miss Spivey's Corner's Teen 2023; Haleigh Jo Baker, Miss Spivey's Corner 2023; and AbbiKate Daughtry, Miss Sampson County's Outstanding Teen 2023.

Ramsey, McVey and Baker are included in the Miss Spivey's Corner/Miss Dunn/Miss Newton Grove circuits, along with Miss Dunn Carlie Spencer and Miss Dunn's Outstanding Teen Rishika Karanam. While the pageants have their respective areas — Dunn is open to 10 counties, while Spivey's Corner encompassed the entire state, for example — those individual pageants are now all under the auspices of Edwards and the original Spivey's Corner contingent.

"We have just crowned our 51st Miss Spivey's Corner," said Edwards. "Last year, we added (the Miss Dunn pageant) and this year (Miss Newton Grove). We're always looking for volunteers, we're looking for support and we're looking for sponsors to help us, directly or indirectly. We are an official preliminary for the Miss America program.

"Our organization, we have five queens competing at North Carolina," Edwards noted.

A few of those queens shared their community missions with the board.

Baker said she was "super excited" for the opportunity to represent the Hollerin' Capital of the World as Spivey Corner's 51st queen. She is a recent graduate of UNC-Pembroke, earning a Bachelor of Science in mathematics with a concentration in 9-12th grade secondary mathematics education. As an aspiring teacher, Baker said she was focused on advocating for educators and teacher pay — her community service initiative is called "putting the 'pro' back in professional."

She has met local and state government and school leaders and lobbied for increased teacher pay in North Carolina.

"We need to compensate our teachers accordingly for all the hard work they are continuing to do," Baker attested. "Children need us, we need educators. There are over 5,000 vacancies in education in North Carolina right now, and that is not acceptable. Each and every child deserves the best possible education, and that starts with the teachers that we're putting in the classroom and the teachers we can retain each and every year."

McVey, a recent high school graduate from Zebulon, plans to attend Wake Tech and then transfer to East Carolina, where she hopes to attain a Bachelor of Science in medicine. She wants to be a pediatric transplant nurse.

"Lots of steps, but glad I have it planned out; thanks to the Miss America organization for helping me raise scholarship money for my future career pathway," McVey noted.

Her community service initiative is "Check Yes For Life," bringing awareness and education to organ donation. Drawing inspiration from tragedy, McVey said she experienced firsthand how the death of a family friend at just 24 years old helped another person through the donation of a healthy heart. McVey has published a book that delivers the "check yes" message to children, which she plans on reading in schools across the state. She also launched a podcast in which she talks to those who have been impacted by organ donation.

"This changed my life drastically because organ donation is not something you think of on a daily basis," said McVey, "and it's so easy to 'check yes.' My mission is to go across North Carolina ... teaching children how easy it is to check yes, (and) why it's so important. It's so simple, yet so critical."

Ramsey, the first-ever teen to represent Newton Grove, said she wants to leave a legacy.

A self-professed "huge animal lover," she has visited the Sampson County Animal Shelter, conducted donation drives and visited with Newton Grove leaders as well as local schools, including Hobbton Elementary. She said she delivers a message of the importance of spreading kindness and the indelible impact it can have on others.

"We don't know what others are going through behind closed doors," Ramsey professed. "I urge students to speak out in a time of need, confusion or crisis."

Relating it back to her community service initiative, entitled "Reach Out, Speak Out," Ramsey said she was the victim of bullying and struggled to find her own voice. She wants others going through a similar situation to know they are not alone, and that help is available. Ramsey has established a website where she imparts her story, while offering resources that can aid others in finding that help, and that voice. Through her social platforms, she has been able to spread the message of "Reach Our, Speak Out" to 10,000 people — a number she hopes will continue to rise.

Daughtry's initiative, "Fit for Success," highlights the importance of physical education and the correlation it has to brain health in youth.

She said she has been able to educate children that "no matter what age, you are able to take control of your personal health, your wellness and your diet." She has taken that message into classrooms, including recently with second-graders at Midway Elementary.

Through "Fit for Success," Daughtry said she has also been able to co-host volleyball and soccer camps across different counties for children of all ages. She also hosted a playground and sports equipment drive.

Daughtry said she looked forward to representing Sampson County at the Miss North Carolina competition and thanked county leaders for their support.

"Let's show these girls some love and I ask you to keep them in your prayers and your thoughts," said Edwards. "We'll (soon) have two new queens in North Carolina and I'm hoping it's somebody sitting right here behind me."