DYW Showcase

One of the responsibilities for the top five winners in the State Distinguished Young Women showcase is to return the next year to help out with the next year's showcase. I had an interpreter job this morning and another one in the afternoon, and then I grabbed Jaiden and we headed up north to Janika's house to spend the night. The next morning I brought her to the school where they were hosting the showcase (same place as last year) and then went to the Draper Temple for a session since it was only five minutes away. 

I came back later that night to watch the showcase. It was fun to watch -- I was surprised at some of the results! Jaiden's friend, Gwendolyn Dooley was on of the participants. They had a lot less girls than Jaiden's group last year -- only 17 girls as compared to 28 in Jaiden's group. Now I guess Jaiden is officially finished with her responsibilities. It was a lot of work being involved with Distinguished Young Women last year, but well worth it! 

Jaiden's write up in her letter to Janelle: 

On Friday I got up and got ready and then went to help at state! when I first got there they were doing a run through, so I just helped girls change into their various dresses or costumes throughout the show. I got to watch some of them perform and it was fun!! then we had lunch and it was such a blast getting to know all the girls, and seeing the girls from last year!!! after that we all started getting ready for the actual showcase and it was SOOO exciting!

I helped people get dressed and run through their self expression answers and stuff and being on the dressing room made me miss it Soo much!! like I wanted to go out on stage and perform haha! also they did the same fitness routine I did so I was like AHHH PTSDDDD but it was funny  the showcase ran really smooth and then I basically just had to go on stage and pass out awards and take pictures with the winners haha! it was really fun!! I was surprised by some of the winners honestly but I'm sure they will do great. 

After the showcase we went to Janika and Brandon's and ate dinner and I did some homework and then we went to bed! today we went to church and it was the primary program and it was SOO FUNNNN they let the kids write their own parts based on specific topics  and they had a Sunbeam sing a solo of I love to see the temple it was AMAZING it was so funnyyyy  she was adorable and pronounced half the words wrong lol....anyway we are just driving home right now so I should be back in cedar soon!!  And  Todd Christofferson is coming to speak to us tonight how exciting is that??? it's my first time seeing one of the apostles in person lol I'm stoked! I have three chem assignments to do by tonight which is also fun  but guess what?? it SNOWED LAST NIGHT!!! LIKE IN CEDAR!!! so I wasn't there but Emily said it was still snowing this morning and I'm SO EXCITED TO GO PLAY IN IT!! anywayyyy I hope you have a great week I love you tons!

Jaiden: Distinguished Young Women, Utah Showcase

This weekend was the Distinguished Young Women of Utah Showcase for Jaiden! She had been working towards this for the past six months, and so we were really looking forward to the showcase (and getting it all over with, ha ha!) Jaiden had DYW events and rehearsals scheduled all day Friday and Saturday and so I needed to bring her up Thursday night right after her SpongeBob the Musical rehearsal. She has been SO busy and was really stressing out about everything and so I asked her if she wanted her dad to give her a blessing before we left. I am so grateful that my husband has the Priesthood of God to bless our family! The blessing helped so much!! Jaiden and I picked up Ellen and baby Evan and headed up north. Evan slept the entire drive. I dropped Ellen and Evan off in South Jordan and then Jaiden and I headed to my mom's house. 

Friday morning I dropped Jaiden off at the Loveland Aquarium where she met all of the other girls who were participating in the State competition. All of the other girls were either winners in their local competitions (like Jaiden), or had qualified in another way to come to State. The girls had a full day! They had a private tour of the aquarium, took a tour of Sierra Jewelry (both were sponsors for the Distinguished Young Women of Utah program). They fed them lunch and dinner and then had rehearsals the rest of the time. 

Meanwhile I spent the day with my mom. We did our exercise swim that morning and Mom and Dad took me out to dinner at the Asian Star that evening with Shane and Rella and Calder. It tasted so delicious to me! After dinner I went and picked up Jaiden from the Loveland Aquarium. She told me about her day and said that she and a couple of the other girls hit it off and became fast friends. She said that they decided to give the girls their Self-Expression question tonight, instead of tomorrow. That way the girls could have time to think about their question, which was a huge relief! We headed back to my mom's house and Jaiden headed to bed!  

I dropped Jaiden off (and all of her dresses and supplies) at the the Summit Academy Charter School before 8:00 a.m. This is where they were having their showcase later that afternoon. Their agenda for the day included a Make-A-Wish princess party with Evelyn and also rehearsals and a full run through of the show. 

Rick and the rest of the kids headed up north this morning and stopped at Janika's for lunch on the way. Mom and Dad and I met them all at the Showcase at 3:45. Jaiden had lots of support! We had Rick, me, Janelle, Josh, Jenna, Janika, Brandon, Ellen, Grandma and Grandpa Westra, Grandma Jensen, and Gerilyn! 

The show was very well done. The girls came out and did an opening number (which was pretty much put together yesterday and today). They had been sent a video link to it last week and so they were already familiar with it, they just needed to put it all together with the girls. 

They had the girls divided up into three groups and had one group compete in each category at a time. Jaiden's group did Self Expression first (where they answer a question on stage). She had been nervous when she saw that she was doing Self-Expression first, because she felt like it might be her weakest area, but she totally nailed it!! As soon as she finished her question Rick and I looked at each other, smiled, and did a thumbs up!! We were so proud of her!! Here is the video clip of her answering her group's question:  https://youtu.be/TIOxGofK4qY

Jaiden's group performed their talents next. Jaiden did AWESOME!!! There was one little hiccup near the end of her song where she breathed in and her throat caught, which caused her to skip two words, but she handled it really well and just kept right on going without letting it phase her. Here is her talent!! (Sorry for the poor video quality -- there were people's heads in the way in the seats in front of me, which made the video go in and out of focus. But you get the idea!) 

Jaiden's Talent: https://youtu.be/8EJebQtt2wg 

Jaiden's group did the fitness routine last and she did great with that too!! 

The program was really good and quite entertaining. It was about 3 1/2 hours long and so I worried that we might get bored, but it held my attention well. They had parts throughout where they showed slideshows of the girls with pictures taken the past couple of days as well as pictures of them that they had sent in earlier. They also had a slideshow explaining Distinguished Young Women and how this year is the 60th anniversary, with pictures throughout the years. The was interesting too, but a little long. They played all of that while the judges deliberated. Then they finally came back and announced the winners. The breakdown is as follows: 25% Interview, 25% Scholastic, 20% Talent, 15% fitness, and 15% Self-Expression.

Jaiden was one of the top five in Self-Expression, Interview, and Talent!! After hearing her Self-Expression answer we thought that she might be one of the top five. The Interviews had been done last Tuesday and Wednesday over zoom and Jaiden felt like she could have done better. So that one was a pleasant surprise!! And we were thrilled when she was announced as one of the top five winners for talent also! All of the talents were quite good, so it must have been difficult to choose between them. They then announced the final winners. By this time we figured that Jaiden would be in the top five, and were thrilled when they announced that she had won 1st Runner Up!!   

After watching all of the participants, Rick and I thought that Isabel Hallows would most likely be the winner. She really stood out and did well in all of the areas. Rick has actually judged pageants before and was taking notes in the program booklet, ha ha! Before the winners were announced he had leaned over to me saying that he felt that Jaiden had a really good chance of being one of the top five overall. Jaiden performed really well in fitness also, even though she wasn't one of the top five. She probably wasn't far behind! She also has a solid 4.0 and high ACT score, and lots of honors classes, so I am sure she was high up there in Scholastics also, even though she wasn't in the top five.  

Anyway, we were all pretty excited! Going into State I really had no idea of what to expect. We were absolutely thrilled that she did so well! As 1st Runner-Up she received a $2,500 Cash Scholarship to the college of her choice and a jewelry gift. She received $750 for being in the top five for Self-Expression, $1000 for being in the top five in Talent, and $1000 for being in the top five for Interview. So she earned $5250.00 from state and $1,150 from the local program, earning a total of $6400.00 overall in Scholarship money. Not too shabby!!

We felt really good about the results -- and we are perfectly fine that she didn't win the title of  Distinguished Young Women of Utah. The winner goes on to compete at the National competition in Mobile, Alabama this summer, which would have been a great experience, but also a lot of time and stress. The winner, Isabel, is darling and will represents our state well in nationals. I am sure Jaiden will have other responsibilities that she needs to handle as part of the top five, but for now, I am sure she is more than ready to focus on something else! 

We took some pictures and said goodbye to Grandma and Gerilyn and then the rest of us went out for ice-cream to celebrate!! Then Jaiden and Jenna went with Janika and Brandon to be dropped off to their cousins for the night and then rest of us headed back to my mom's to spend the night. The next day we headed to Janika and Brandon's for a nice lunch before heading back to St. George! 

And some backstage "just for fun" pictures! 

These "snapshot" collages were decorating the tables out in the lobby! 

And the certificates...

Congratulations, Jaiden!!!! 

Snapshots for Distinguished Young Women

 

Jaiden: Distinguished Young Woman of Southern Utah 2021-2022!!!

Jaiden has been participating in the Distinguished Young Women Scholarship Program for Southern Utah over the past couple of months. Last year and this year the program was done online due to Covid. It has been a lot of work and quite stressful since Jaiden is already involved in so many things. (But it was worth it!) There were about six workshops where the girls were taught about the program and also about life skills. They also taught the girls the fitness routine and shared interview tips. The workshops were on the same night Jaiden has dance and so she had to miss a couple of the workshops (or watch the recording of the workshop later on). The contestants committed to collect at least $300.00 from sponsors. This was a bit out of her comfort zone, but she ended up with about $450.00 in sponsorships.

The girls were judged in five areas: Scholastic, Talent, Fitness, Self-Expression, and Interview. There was a lot of information to navigate for this program and several deadlines. For Scholastic she was required to turn in a transcript, ACT scores, and academic record signed by her school counselor. For the talent category the contestants chose and created a talent and then turned in a video submission of their talent, limited to 90 seconds. For the fitness category the contestants learned a specific fitness routine that incorporated coordination, strength, and stamina and submitted a video submission of the routine. Self-Expression included a 20-30 second response to a question on the day of the showcase and the Interview included a ten-minute interview in front of several judges. The self-expression and interview were both done on Zoom.

Jaiden had two mock interviews – one with Heidi Wakefield, the DYW Director, and another with a couple of past DYW winners. Rick and I also tried to ask her possible interview questions over the past couple of weeks whenever we got the chance (which was difficult with her busy schedule). 

Today was the day when the interview and self-expression would be performed! She got a list of eight self-expression questions last night (one for each competing girl) with an explanation that they would be drawing each question out of a bowl. Jaiden performed in her school straight play last night (and all last week). Then she went to Denny’s with the cast to celebrate. So, she did not get home until midnight. She started preparing for the self-expression questions as soon as she woke up until the time of her afternoon interview. She was very nervous, but said that they both went pretty well!  

There were eight girls competing from the various high schools in the area and tonight they announced the winners. Jaiden was one of the winners of all five categories – AND was the overall winner! She is the new Distinguished Young Women for Southern Utah! She will also go on and compete in the State competition in October! We are so excited for her! Congratulations, Jaiden!! (She won $1150.00 in scholarship money). Here is her talent video!   

      

Here is the link: https://youtu.be/D2Veoit_Wdw

Here is Jaiden in her interview and talent dress: 

Here are a few pictures from the photoshoot that Alicia did when she was down for Easter Break. She also videotaped Jaiden's talent for us. Thanks, Alicia! 

 https://www.facebook.com/AliciaWestraPhotography/

Program Results: 

Scholastics:

$175- Ruby Ludlow

$175- Elthura Campbell

$175- Jaiden Jensen

 

Interview:

$150- Ellie Zierse

$150- Ruby Ludlow

$150-Jaiden Jensen

 

Fitness:

$100- Kaliya Roberts

$100- Ruby Ludlow

$100- Jaiden Jensen

 

Talent:

$125- Libby Pike

$125- Ruby Ludlow

$125- Jaiden Jensen

 

Self Expression:

$100- Charity Barnes

$100- Ruby Ludlow 

$100- Jaiden Jensen

 

BYBS Award:

$100- Emily Williams

$100- Elthura Campbell

$100- Kaliya Roberts

 

($500) Distinguished Young Woman of St. George- Ruby Ludlow 

($500) Distinguished Young Woman of Southern Utah- Jaiden Jensen