The Junior Miss Deaf Michigan Pageant

The Miss Deaf Michigan Pageant Association’s (MDMPA) goal is to find more creative ways to provide leadership training to our Deaf Youth. In doing that, we will empower today’s youth to become more self-efficient, as they take on the responsibility of carrying on the traditions of our community and culture.

To further the work of the Miss Deaf Michigan Pageant, we came up with the idea of hosting a pageant for young Deaf girls. Keeping their needs in mind, the Junior Miss
Deaf Michigan Pageant was born.

This pageant was not entirely the same as the Miss Deaf Michigan Pageant. It was directed by former Miss Deaf Michigan contestants, from the pageant held in 2005, who made a commitment to give back to their community. We provided the “Junior” contestants with more leadership training and self awareness during a weekend retreat held at DeSales Center in Brooklyn, Michigan (www.desales.org). The staff, counselors, and chaperones were all Deaf adult female role models.

The Pageant was held on September 30, 2006 at The Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint, Michigan. (www.msdb.k12.mi.us)

This project also gave MDMPA the opportunity to coach former Miss Deaf Michigan contestants (2005) on how to run a non-profit organization, such as MDMPA. Essentially, a domino effect of leadership and influence was created, with the MDMPA Leaders training former Miss Deaf Michigan contestants, while the former Miss Deaf Michigan contestants were training our “Junior” contestants.

Training younger members of the Deaf community secures the life of MDMPA, so that when the current leaders of our organization complete their terms and move on, we already have strong leaders waiting in line to carry on the blood, sweat, and tears we’ve poured into MDMPA.

2006 Junior Pageant Team Members:

Director, Jessica Rogers- 2nd runner up in 2005’s Miss Deaf Michigan pageant,
chaperone for Jonelle Thames at the Miss Deaf America Pageant (NAD), member of the
Delta Epsilon Sorority, and a full time graduate student at Gallaudet University.
Miss Rogers managed her Jr. Miss Deaf Michigan team from Gallaudet University
through emails, AIM Conference calls, and VP (Video Phone) meetings.

Assistant Director, Kendra Rose - 3rd runner up in 2005’s Miss Deaf Michigan pageant, graduate of Gallaudet University (B.S. Family Child Studies), member of the Delta
Epsilon Sorority, former assistant coach for the cheerleading squad at Model Secondary School for the Deaf. Miss Rose managed the team in Michigan during Jessica’s absence.
She demonstrated tremendous skills in multitasking and problem solving.

Chaperone Coordinator, Amanda Bogart- Graduate of Rochester Institute of
Technology (NY), current Secretary for MDMPA, Office assistant for the State of
Michigan. Miss Bogart specializes in organization, time management, and networking.

Retreat Coordinator, Heba Samona - Graduate of Madonna University, currently a full
time graduate student at Rochester Institute of Technology (New York).

Meals Coordinator, Elizabeth Schweinfurth- a Hazardous Materials Specialist for
OSEH (Occupational Safety & Environmental Health) at the University of Michigan, with a B.S. from University of Findlay in Ohio, and currently working on her M.S. at Wayne State University. Miss Schweinfurth assisted the Jr. pageant team while also volunteering at Deaf Clubs in Ann Arbor, and Detroit, planning her wedding, and building her new home.

Stage Designer/Director, Christine Taylor - Former 2005 MDMP contestant, graduate
of the University of Vermont (B.S. Early Childhood Education) and McDaniel College
(M.S. in Deaf Education). Currently a full time ASL instructor at Central Michigan
University.

Each of these women possess strong leadership skills. They have invested a great deal of money, time and energy into making this project a success.

The Miss Deaf Michigan Pageant Association is proud to have these women represent our organization.

We thank the Deaf community, our sponsors, and the parents of each of these contestants for making this possible.

A Pageant First

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