What's Happening

Iowa Pageant - I worked at the NAM Iowa State Pageant and had a blast!  It was so much fun to be a part of all of the excitement as the contestants met each other and prepared for the pageant.  I especially liked spending time with Anna - the 2011 Iowa State Jr. Pre-Teen Queen.  We had a lot of fun.  I also had the chance to spend tons of time with my sister queen Cassidy Raasch, Miss Illinois Pre-teen Queen!  She and her mom are hilarious!  Congrats to all of the new Iowa Queens and to the outgoing queens - you were amazing!  Loved getting to know you!

Upcoming events:  I will be at the State Pageant for Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota, South Carolina and Florida.  Cannot wait to meet the contestants at each Pageant!

I am in the process of planning an anti-bullying event in September!  I am doing it under one of my sister queen's organizations call G.A. B. (Girls Against Bullying)  I am hoping to draw attention to a matter that affects girls and boys my age.  Sometimes, we might not even realize that something we say to someone might have a terrible impact on them.  I want my friends and neighbors to pledge to help anyone we might see in an uncomfortable situation!  More information to follow!  Hopefully, you can walk in my event.  If not, maybe you can still donate!

That is all I have for now!  Looking forward to telling you more!!

Love,

Peyton

Video Interview

I have not posted in a while, but have continued to be very busy!  My community service organization, My Voice, now has a logo and a purpose!  We are in the process of putting together a webpage for it and then more kids my age will have a voice and somewhere to go to use it!  Also, pageant season is here!  I am so excited to see the many friends that I have made around the country.  I begin at the end of this month in Iowa!  Excited to see my National and State sister queens.  I was lucky enough to be interviewed for my work with literacy in Chicago by, Megan, from Northwestern University.  You can see the interview below!  I will post a link to My Voice as soon as I have it!

Houston Photo Shoot

Wow!  What an incredible month it has been!  The book fair with Barnes and Noble for Book Worm Angels was a huge success!  I was so excited to learn that one of my sister queens in the south is trying to set up the same kind of drive in her own home state!  That is so exciting!  It reminds me of "pay it forward" and I am so happy to learn that it will be paid forward in other parts of the country.  None of this would have been possible without NAM!

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to get to go to Houston, Texas for a NAM photo shoot.  I had such a blast hanging out with my National sister queens and getting to know each of them better.  I cannot wait to see them at the pageants this summer.  Every one of the girls is amazing ...... I really liked listening to Shereen sing while we were getting our hair and makeup done and playing hide and go seek with Bernice, Joey, and Kylan and trying on (stealing :) ) all of the high heels! Mrs. Mayes, Miss LaKashia, Miss Dawn Lee and all the NAM staff made it an awesome weekend - thank you! I have a million memories from the weekend and was so sad to see it end.  I miss you all!

We are in the process of getting another event together for Book Worm Angels.  So if you missed the last drive, there is still time to participate! I will have more info coming on the next event.

Check out the pictures from the photo shoot!  And if you get a chance, watch the video of the top 5 awards at Nationals.  I think it is fun to watch because I hardly remember that night! (I got the idea to upload it to youtube from my awesome miss, Amanda!  Thanks for the idea, Amanda!

Thank you for all of your support....

Love,
Peyton
National American Miss Jr. Pre-Teen 2011-2012

Thank you so much!

Yesterday was a pretty amazing day for me!  I feel like I live in a great community after I saw all the support, people and love shown by all those who came out.  First, to Mike Ban and the Book Worm Angels people, you really love what you do and it shows.  I hope we work together for a long time to come!  Second, to Lake County Board Member Aaron Lawlor and Illinois Representative Carol Sente, you represent public service so well.  Thanks for being a part of this event!  To our local authors, Allan Woodrow, Barb Rosenstock, Shari Brady, and Susan Finerty, you help others with literacy through the great writing you do every day.  I couldn't have asked for better authors to be a part of this day.  Next, to my sister queens, I cannot believe you all drove so far to come and support me.  I love you and thanks!  Then to all my friends and family, you really know how to make a girl feel special.  If we keep this up, we can all help illiteracy become a thing of the past.  Finally, to Ruth and Pam at Barnes and Noble, you made this event go pretty smoothly.  You were wonderful.

My goal was to raise $1,000.00 for Book Worm Angels and collect another 1,000 gently used books.  Thanks to your generous support, Barnes and Noble says we are close to $400.00 going to BWA right now and we have all week for on-line orders.  We also collected about 200 books yesterday, too!

2 Days Until the Book Fair Begins!!!

I am soooooooo excited to see all of you coming out this Sunday to Barnes and Noble in Vernon Hills at the Westfield Mall.  In addition to authors Allan Woodrow, Barb Rosenstock, Susan Finerty, and Shari Brady reading, elected officials Aaron Lawlor and Carol Sente will be on-hand to say a few words.  Of course, my friends from Book Worm Angels, Mike Ban and his group, will also be there for you to meet and speak with.  Their work to support literacy is amazing!  I am very blessed to be able to work with them.

I will be available to take pictures with you, sign a few 8x10s for you, and just hang out for a bit, so don't be late!  The fun starts at 1pm!  See you there.

The Countdown to the Book Worm Angel Event is On!!

Don't forget about the AWESOME event for Book Worm Angels!!!  Cannot wait to see LOTS of people there!  Remember, just use the code if you cannot attend and would like to order from Barnes and Noble.  It even works for your Nook Books!!

BOOK WORM ANGELS AND BARNES AND NOBLE

I am really excited to have this event!!!  I hope you can participate!  It is for a great cause!! On February 12, Barnes and Noble has agreed to donate a portion of proceeds on purchases made with our code number to my favorite charity, Book Worm Angels.  I want to get everyone in the local area to come and meet local authors, buy their books, get their autographs - and by doing that - it raises money for Book Worm Angels!  YAY!!

What is even more exciting is that if you cannot come to our Barnes and Noble Event on February 12, you can order on line for the next 5 days, use that code and it STILL raises money for Book Worm Angels!

We will also have a coloring contest for gift cards and we will have photo opportunities!  It is going to be great!  Please come and support Book Worm Angels!  If you are able to read this, thank a teacher and groups like Book Worm Angels!

Love,
Peyton