Scheduled for June 23rd through the 25th in Mobile, AL the 2016 Distinguished Young Women National Finals (formerly America's Junior Miss) is a multi-day event including contests, entertainment, and numerous opportunities to see these fine young people compete in the largest and oldest national scholarship program for high school girls.
Distinguished Young Women, founded in 1958 in Mobile, AL combines the opportunity to win college scholarships with a life skills training program designed specifically for young women to prepare them for life after high school. The name of the program was changed from America's Junior Miss in 2010 to help distinguish it from beauty pageants - which this program is decidedly not!
Distinguished Young Women takes place across America, in all 50 states and Washington DC, with young women in either their junior or senior year of high school participating. Over $1.1 billion dollars in scholarships are available through the program yet it costs the young women and their families nothing to enter.
The Distinguished Young Women program evaluates its participants using five different categories: Scholastics (25%), Interview (25%), Talent (20%), Fitness (15%), and Self-Expression (15%). Local program winners advance to the state level and all state winners participate in the Distinguished Young Women National Finals held here in Mobile, each June after graduation.
