The Diocesan Dialogue
Current Issue
April 2007
Averill Named Miss SUU
Cassandra Averill, 21, a junior psychology and dance major at Southern Utah University was crowned Miss SUU 2007.
The Miss SUU Scholarship Pageant is one of the largest Miss America preliminaries in Utah. The pageant took place on Feb. 10 before a crowd of 1500 at the SUU Centrum Arena. She has also served as Miss Uintah County and Miss Cedar Breaks.
Averill is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Vernal and while at school attends St. Jude's Episcopal Church in Cedar City, Utah.
She says, "The comfort I find in my church and my spirituality is definitely a powerful part of my life and gives me strength," she said
"I feel fortunate to represent the religious diversity of Utah through my work and service within the scholarship pageant system. I firmly believe service is the heart of the Miss America Organization." Cassandra will represent SUU at the Miss Utah Scholarship Pageant in July.
"I believe that I have an urgent message to share", Cassandra says. The number of children growing up with low literacy skills is a state wide as well as a national problem. The home is the first place children are introduced to books and reading. Children who have opportunities for a number of reading experiences at an early age are best prepared to develop high literacy skills. Studies show that 61 percent of low-income families have no books in their homes. Access to books is seriously limited for underprivileged children. "I passionately believe that getting children to read and succeed begins with getting books into their hands."
"I will continue my work as an advocate for my early literacy development project Read for Life. I have developed an informative early literacy website www.startyoung.org and I work with schools, libraries and community programs. I plan to take my message statewide, with a public awareness campaign combined with a program to distribute books and information."
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