Danielle Bennett, 17, was named fourth runner up in the national 2006 America's Homecoming Queen pageant, representing the state of Virginia on July 17 in Anaheim, Calif.
“It was very rewarding,” says Danielle of her five-day experience. "My heart was beating really, really hard when they were about to announce the runners up and the winner. I felt honored to be placed in the top five."
Danielle was last year's Homecoming Queen at Westfield High School and is a rising freshman at the University of Southern California.
WHEN SHE first received an invitation to compete for the title, she was slightly wary. “I hadn’t heard of them before,” said the daughter of Jay and Marlyse Jones of Braddock Downs in Centreville. “But I decided to give it a try.”
Out of 200 applicants from the state of Virginia, 15 finalists were selected to compete in the state pageant, including Danielle. The finalists competed in two categories: personal interview and prom gown competition.
As Virginia’s Homecoming Queen, she received a cash scholarship to the college of her choice. She also received an all-expense paid trip to the national competition.
America’s Homecoming Queen Inc. was established in 1981 with the goal to “promote education and community service for high school homecoming queens in all 50 states.”
The selection process is unique in that it is by invitation only. In order to qualify, participants must have been selected as the Homecoming Queen at their high school.
For the nationals, Danielle had to prepare a one-minute speech and a two-minute video presentation. She also had to bring 60 gifts to give to the contestants that somehow represented the state of Virginia. “It was hard to get everything ready for the national competition, because I still had to prepare for graduation and exams,” says Danielle. “It was difficult to find the time to get everything done.”
Once in California, the queens spent a day in Disneyland having fun and getting to know each other.
“I wasn’t sure what meeting the other girls would be like, because girls in big groups have tendencies to act ingenuine,” said Danielle. “But everyone was so nice.” Danielle especially enjoyed meeting the finalist from California. “We really hit it off,” she says.
While at Westfield, she was maintained a 3.9 GPA, was president of her class for four years and co-editor of the newspaper, The Watchdog. She plans to study political science and international policies.