Junior Amy Sheffield participated in the Miss SHS pageant on March 29, 2017. Aspiring to be a combination of a missionary, teacher, writer, and psychologist, Sheffield hopes to attend a university in Florida and then enroll in the New Tribes Bible Institute to further her studies. Competing in the pageant gave her an opportunity to highlight her achievements and involvement at SHS.

Sheffield was crowned winner of the annual Miss SHS pageant, earning the title of Miss SHS 2017. The Miss SHS contest had 19 nominees who all competed to be the student representative of SHS, ending with Sheffield as the winner and junior Shannon O’Donnell and senior Lauren Nash as the runner-ups.

Sheffield is a student in the IB program who is involved in several school activities, such as the SHS Theatre Company and Thespian Troupe 3266. Her passions include acting and writing; she acts at school and writes at home.

Wanting to try something new and to perform in front of an audience, Sheffield decided to compete in the Miss SHS pageant where she could showcase her achievements and perform her talents.

“When I won Miss SHS, I was overjoyed,” said Sheffield. “Each of the contestants did so well. It didn’t feel like a competition; I was just having fun.”

Drawing on her love for acting and writing, Sheffield chose to do a spoken word poem for the talent portion that reflected her faith in Christianity. Spoken word poems are distinct from normal poems because they focus on word play, intonation, and voice inflection where emotion and passion are demonstrated.

“The spoken word I wrote for Miss SHS was the first one I have ever performed,” said Sheffield. “Winning the contest encouraged me to pursue my talent in spoken word and use it in the future for God’s glory.”

Miss SHS represents the school and its students and faculty, hosting events and meetings and escorting visitors around campus. Sheffield will also be the new student representative of the Parent Student Teacher Association which was previously occupied by Miss SHS 2016 Trishna Khatri.

“I am [honored] to be passing down the crown to Amy,” said Khatri. “I was listening to her poetry during the event and it was very powerful and I know that if she could speak that well on stage, then she can accomplish many things in the future with her captivating charisma.”

Administrators Nicole Rottler-Wysong, Erin Dehlinger, Michelle Prom, and LaTonya Thomas were in charge of running the pageant and ensuring that the 2017 Miss SHS nominees were aware of upcoming events such as dress rehearsal, individual interviews, and photo shoots. All four of them are looking forward to collaborating with Sheffield in the future. 

“We congratulate her on being our next representative,” said Rottler-Wysong. “Being Miss SHS doesn’t end with just the scholarship competition. She’s one of the faces of Seminole High School and so we’re excited to have her representing Seminole for next year. We’re [also] very proud of all the ladies who competed. They worked so hard and they did an exceptional job.”

Sheffield is proud to be the new representative of SHS and will take advantage of her new title, hoping to improve the school in any way she possibly can. Below is a recognition of the other students who participated in the Miss SHS 2017 pageant. 

Honorable Mentions:

Isabel Adamus (dance)    

 Diana Dai (playing the flute)

Britney Denton (playing the piano)

Sakinah Dewji (Spoken Word poetry)

Brea Jones (photography)

Kamini Kabilan (playing the flute)

Elianna Kott (origami)

Katelyn Liston (how to write a story)

Lokambika Muthu (Indian dance)

Lauren Nash (playing the saxophone)

Shannon O’Donnell (singing)

Riley Rustin (signing a song in American Sign Language)

Simran Shah (Indian dance)

Masuma Somji (singing)

Shreya Srikanth (singing and playing the piano)

Briana Taylor (hair braiding)

Bushra Thakur (make-up)

Precious Ukachukwu (playing the flute)