Special to the WJH
Miss Alaya McMillan was recently crowned 2025 Ware County Junior Miss inside the Ware County Middle School auditorium.
The pageant was held Saturday, March 8. Miss McMillan was one of 24 contestants competing for the crown. Ed Flowers served as emcee.
The preliminary portion of the competition began with each contestant walking the stage. While scores were tabulated by the auditors Kimberly Brown and Caryn Knox, both faculty members of WCMS, Ware County Jr. Miss 2024 Ajalah Fields was introduced.
Ten finalists were then announced in no particular order. They were Skye Reid, Julieann Lee, Aubrie Roberson, Ali-grace Burkett, Dessie Delk, Emma Padgett, Sofie Adams, Maylee Johnson, McKenzi Tarber and McMillan.
This led to the question-andanswer part of the competition. Flowers asked each of the 10 teens a question.
All of the girls were well-spoken, and it was hard to tell that many of them had never spoken in front of a large audience.
The honor of Miss Congeniality, selected by the contestants, went to Miss Julieann Lee. Most Photogenic, selected by the photographer, went to McMillan. Crowd Favorite, voted on by the audience, went to Barbara Williams.
After her final walk, WCJM 2024, Ajalah Fields crowned McMillan, an 8th-grade student who is a member of the Ware County Middle School National Junior Honor Society, the school’s competition and sideline cheerleading, and soccer teams. She is the daughter of Jeremiah and Jenny McMillan.
Also honored were McKenzi Tarber — first runner-up, Julieann Lee – second runnerup, Skye Reid — third runnerup, and Maylee Johnson — fourth runnerup.
The pageant was sponsored by the WCMS Yearbook and was directed by yearbook advisers Stormy Parten and Julia Graves. Special thanks to former Ware County Jr. Miss contestant and current Miss Swamp Fest, Annamarie Helms, for coaching the girls during practices and helping with the pageant itself.
