FROM STAFF REPORTS

Shelby County native Brooklyn Holt will participate in the Miss Alabama system for the sixth year after winning the Miss Iron City Pageant, an official preliminary for the Miss Alabama pageant.

“You could say I have been preparing for a long time,” said Holt, who competed three years in Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen and now three years in Miss Alabama. “I will prepare for the Miss Alabama Pageant by staying updated on current events, practicing my vocal talent, working out and a myriad of other things. The Miss Iron City team will help prepare me by hosting mock interviews along with many other things.”

Holt, a 21-year-old Auburn University student who graduated from Oak Mountain High School, said she wants others to know that the Miss America program is a wonderful platform to showcase your talents, express your opinions and impact the communities you love, and that scholarship money and the relationships you make are also a great addition.

“Being crowned Miss Alabama would provide me with wonderful opportunities to continue my journey and make an impact on the lives of children and their families,” Holt said. “As Miss Alabama, I would raise awareness for my platform through speaking engagements and appearances, host musical concerts with all proceeds benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Alabama homeless shelters, and collaborate with Alabama lawmakers to create legislation that would improve the lives of Alabama children. I know with my determination and hunger for change in Alabama, I am making an ever-lasting impact on children and their families in Alabama and across the country.”

Holt started competing in the Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen program at age 15 after her voice teacher encouraged her to compete as a way to practice vocal skills and possibly gain scholarship money.

Holt’s platform is “Raise Your Voice for Children,” which addresses the needs of impoverished children and their families.

“My platform centers on the costly consequences to society when children’s basic needs are not met,” Holt said. “Also, my goal is for all children to realize that we cannot dwell on challenges, but that we can accept them, work hard and turn them around, making them become our strengths.”

Holt hosts “Raise Your Voice for Children” concerts with talent from across the Southeast with all proceeds benefitting Children’s Miracle Network.

She has also recorded a single titled “Raise Your Voice.”

“I chose my platform because I have always dreamed of using my talents to positively impact the lives of others,” Holt said.