By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
Cheney teen Ciera Barton will be competing in the Miss Washington Teen USA pageant next month.
Barton, a junior at Three Springs High School, has a lot of new experiences ahead of her.
“This whole pageant thing is really new to me,” she said. “I've never been on any kind of stage.”
She said she heard about the pageant a few months ago, and decided to try it when she read about the scholarship opportunities for top finishers. She hopes to win some money and put it toward college.
“Coming from a family of five kids and four of us are still in the house, that's really important,” she said.
Barton is the daughter of Todd and Christy Barton of Cheney. Most of her family lives in the area too, and she said she's looking forward to wearing a sash that reads “Miss Cheney Teen.”
The state pageant, set for Oct. 8-9 in Seattle, judges girls on evening gown, swimsuit and interview. The winner goes on to compete for the Miss Teen USA crown. During the pageant, the contestants aren't allowed to leave the hotel or speak to their families and friends who came to watch them. Barton said that made her a little nervous, but she hopes to meet a lot of new people.
“I'm excited about a lot of these new experiences because it'll help with building confidence for a lot of the things in the future,” she said.
Besides the chance to win scholarship money, Barton said she's most looking forward to growing as a person through the pageant experience. The second oldest child in her family, she said she'd like to be a role model for her younger siblings.
“It took a lot of time for me to grow into myself and be as confident as I am now,” she said. “So I just hope that doing things like this will help show my little sisters and even my little brother that it's okay to push for things. Even if it's new to you, if you really want it, it's okay to try.”
Barton is currently competing online for a “Most Photogenic” award. To check it out and vote, visit http://www.misswashingtonusa.com.
Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].
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