Four young ladies, (L to R) P’Azhae Harrigan, Raven Phillips-Love, Mirisa Clendenin, and Kyara Lewis, will vie for the St. John Festival Junior Miss title on Sunday, June 8, at Winston Wells ballfield.
It will be a Grande Diamond Jubilee at the Winston Wells ball field this Sunday night, June 8, as four lovely young ladies vie for the title of St. John Festival Junior Miss.
The selection show is set to kick of at 6 p.m. and promises to be seriously entertaining as all four of this year’s contestants are impressive and talented teenagers.
Contestant Number 1 is Kyara Iantha Lewis, a sixth grader at Lockhart Elementary School who hails from the island of St. Thomas. Her parents are Christina Rami and Kerdin Lewis and she has an older sister and a younger brother.
While still in elementary school, Lewis is a member of the band, the cheerleading squad, the choir, the dance group and Junior ROTC. It doesn’t sound like Lewis has much free time, but when we does the sixth grader enjoys signing dancing and shopping, she explained.
“When I am not busy at school, I can be found dancing or singing at home or out shopping with my mom, Tina,” Lewis said.
An aspiring teacher, Lewis also has clear plans for her future.
“I aspire to become an educator and my philosophy centers around a quote by Margaret Fuller which states ‘If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it,’” said Lewis. “As a future educator, it is my pledge to help the youth of the Virgin Islands to light their candles of knowledge and put it into practice, thus making our community a much better place in which to live.”
Lewis is running for the title of St. John Festival Junior Miss in order to be a role model to younger Virgin Islanders, she added.
“As your Contestant #1 for this 2014 St. John Jr. Miss pageant, my love for these islands will show through,” Lewis said. “I thank the St. John Festival Committee for affording me this opportunity to showcase my many talents and to serve as a role model for other positive young Virgin Islanders.”
Contestant Number 2 is Love City’s own Mirisa Corean Clendinen, a 15-year-old ninth grader at Antilles School. Clendinen’s parents are Ernie and Nancy Clendinen and she has a twin sister, Aysha, as well as younger sister.
With a close-knit family, Clendinen had no hesitation explaining that her best friend was her recently deceased grandfather Curly Wray.
“I attribute my gentle demeanor and love for all people to his teachings and influence,” she said.
Clendinen enjoys photography and fine art and her goal is to one day get into the film businesses, she explained.
“My life goal is to become a film maker and eventually a film director,” said Clendinen. “I am intrigued with the ability to move an idea from a thought and create it into a real image or product. I look forward to the day that I can make films about St. John and in St. John.”
Clendinen hopes to be able to serve as an ambassador for her home island by winning the title of St. John Festival Junior Miss 2014.
“This pageant will allow me the opportunity to showcase my talents, creativity, and intelligence while serving as an ambassador on behalf of the people of my beautiful home St. John Virgin Islands,” she said.
St. John Festival Junior Miss Contestant #3 Raven McKenzie Phillips-Love is also from St. John. She is a 15-year-old 10th grader at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School where is also a Quiz Bowl and Book Club member.
Phillips-Love is a student writer for the St. John Tradewinds and hopes to pursue a career in journalism, she explained.
“I plan to graduate from Ivanna Eudora Kean High School at the top of my class and attend a four year college where I’ll major in Journalism and Psychology, and merge the two into a lucrative career,” said Phillips-Love.
This hard-working teenager chalks her many successes to her self-motivation, Phillips-Love explained.
“It is a combination of my hard work, self-motivation and self-discipline which has enabled me to maintain a 4.0 GPA while building a professional portfolio,” she said.
St. John Festival Junior Miss Contestant Number 4 P’Azhae N’Dia Harrigan, 14, hails from the island of St. Thomas where she is a freshman at Charlotte Amalie High School and is on the honor roll.
The daughter of U.S. military veterans and a Corporal in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, Harrigan is serious about responsibility, she explained.
“I embrace the values of citizenship, personal responsibility, and service to the United States,” Harrigan said.
It is not all work, however, for Harrigan who loves dance and art as well, she added.
“I express my creative mind through artistic drawings and I condition my body with the French Academy of Performing Arts where I have been a student of ballet for six years,” said Harrigan.
This talented young lady is not afraid to put plenty of time into her passions.
“I am a firm believer that the difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will,” she said. “It is my will which will propel me to become P’Azhae Harrigan, M.D., a medical practitioner in pediatrics or neonatology, and it is this will that also inspired me to be contestant number 4 and hopefully Miss St. John Junior Miss 2014-2015.”
Don’t miss what promises to be an exciting and entertaining evening in Winston Wells ball field on Sunday night, June 8, at 6 p.m.
Good luck to all the contestants and see you for a Grand Diamond Jubilee for St. John Festival 2014 Anniversary’s Junior Miss Selection Pageant this Sunday!