Saturday, Jan 20, was a memorable night filled with gowns, tiaras, and sparkles galore. The Carolina Forest High School Pageant is a ceremony that celebrates our students. It suddenly paused about 11 years ago but has returned for its second year. The girls were ready for the memories it would bring.
The following nominees had a casual wear competition, a talent competition, and an evening wear competition: Megan Baker, Kyra Bellinger, Tate’ona Chriscoe, Jessica Christia, Brianna Dougherty, Mallory Figura, Kaiya Goodwin, Tasia Graham, Jaylen Green, Adriana Guarino, Virginia Gunnell, Anne Caroline Jordan, Cadence Kenion, Emily Parker, Mattie Lewis Richardson, Sanaa’ Stevenson, and Taylor Stevenson.
Everyone gave stunning performances during the entire event. The winners of the CFHS Pageant are as follows: Miss CFHS- Mallory Figura;Miss Panther- Anne Caroline Jordan; Miss Senior- Brianna Dougherty; Miss Junior- Jaylen Green; Miss Sophomore- Cadence Kenion; Miss Freshman- Taylor Stevenson.
Dr. Matthew Ward, the director of the CFHS Pageant, has led the pageant for two years. He is one of the music teachers at our school.
“Pageantry means to show up in your finest. I enjoy seeing the different sides of people and what they stand for. In pageants, you have to have a platform or a service initiative. A service initiative means to find something you stand by and promote or raise awareness,” Dr. Ward shared.
Mallory Figura, a senior, was crowned Miss CFHS. This is Figura’s first official pageant, and she prepared immensely for the big day.
“I had to go through lots of coaching, lots and lots of hours at dance rehearsals, and getting a wardrobe definitely wasn’t a one day thing. Being Miss CFHS is way more than wearing a crown and a sash to me!” exclaimed Figura.
Taylor Stevenson was crowned Miss Freshman. She had never done a pageant before and was surrounded by many others who were more experienced.
“I did many things to prepare for this pageant, from pageant practice for my talent, casual walk, and evening gown walk. I feel very honored and happy about being Miss Freshman and hope to be able to use my win to help the people around me in my school and community,” expressed Stevenson.
The following judges had a difficult decision to make with determining the winner: Jill Carroll, Joe Grady Flowers Jr., Brijette McMein, Glenda Robinson, and Dreisa Jordan Sherill.
Congratulations to all the winners and nominees! We all can’t wait to see what is in store for 2025!
