Little Rock Christian Acadamey

My Diamond State Princesses, Amy and Darby, attend Little Rock Christian Acadamey. My aunt is also a teacher at LRCA and was a huge help in arranging my visit! We were both a little disappointed when we were told that they were completely booked... For the rest of the YEAR!! I was so eager to speak on my platform, it was just hard to take no for an answer! So my aunt put me in contact with Mr Salmon who is in charge of coordinating the speakers that come to LRCA. The Lord works in mysterious ways because shortly after negotiating with Mr Salmon (yes, negotiating! I wanted to speak *that bad*) we realized that we had already met! Last year I served as an Orientation Leader for ASU and gave his daughter a private tour! Apparently it was a good tour because Mr Salmon pulled a few strings and I was able to speak at the high school AND fourth grade!! What an answered prayer and another irreplaceable experience! A little determination can get you a long way! ;)

My support group for the day minus Aunt Karen! Andy, Haley, and my two Diamond State Princesses, Amy and Darby!

I was able to share my Pawpaw's story with both groups. The fourth grade had been studying the body and was really interested to hear the effects tobacco can have on it. They loved my crown and of course they wanted to know what my talent was! I think they were expecting a concert when I told them I was planning to sing for my Miss Arkansas talent. There were a few girls who wanted to sing with me so I invited them to stand by me and let them choose the song, The Star Spangled Banner. By the end of the song everyone in the room was singing along! Their excitement and eagerness to hear what I had to say reminded me again why I chose Early Childhood Education as a career path.

A few of the sweetest 4th grade singers I've ever sang with!

I spoke to the high school just before the fourth grade. I was a little nervous about this just because they could either love what I had to say... or hate it. Honestly, this was my favorite group to speak to! They were so interractive and made it so much fun for me to share my platform with them! I focused more on respecting yourself and your body when speaking to them and they LOVED it! I think it is important for teenagers to understand that they don't have to dress a certain way or do a certain thing to be accepted. If they will respect themselves then that will cause their peers to want to respect them in return. One of the slides I showed read "Keep Calm and Stay Classy!" My aunt said they were quoting that for days after I spoke. It was a great feeling knowing that I made that kind of an impact on such a large group of students. Another quote from a slide I used I actually found on a  LRCA Student's facebook status. It read "The man of God is the one who resists lust. The woman of God is the one who helps him fight the battle." Reading this even hit me hard.. to know that a high school student realized it and was brave enough to post for his friends to see! (And let me read it to those who didn't get to!) I loved speaking at LRCA simply because I was able to brag on everything God has done in my life and is still doing!! My favorite part was having the opportunity to challenge over 600 students that day in their walk with the Lord. If I walk away with nothing at the Miss Arkansas pageant next week, I will not walk away empty handed because I know that I have impacted the lives of many students just by having this opportunity! God is good... ALL the time!