Adelyn Benoit Finishes As 2nd Alternate in DYW Program

May 26, 2020 Dayton, Tn --  Adelyn Benoit finished as 2nd alternate in the Distinguished Young Women Program on May 16, 17 to select the Distinguished Young Woman to represent Rhea County for the 2020 year.  Camryn Carder won and Bailey McCoy finished as 1st alternate and Noelle Clark finished as 3rd alternate.  The DYW program this year was heavily impacted by gathering restrictions that forced the competition to be held without family, friends and any other live audience. The young women competed for the title of Distinguished Young Woman of Rhea County for 2021.  The winner would represent the DYW program for the next year and participate in the state and nation program.  Each Distinguished Young Women program evaluates participants in the following categories: Scholastics (25%), Interview (25%), Talent (20%), Fitness (15%), and Self-Expression (15%). Adelyn finished in the top 3 of interview, fitness and self expression on her way to a third palce finish as 2nd alternate. After the competition Adelyn answered a few question about her DYW experience. Summarize  the DYW experience. Benoit said, "My DYW experience was unlike any other, but it was incredible.  Everyone was so kind, helpful, and they made my time as a contestant very memorable. I am very thankful for my experience." Talk about the friendships and relationships that happened during the competition. "The friendships I made during the process are ones I hope to keep as we go on.  All the girls in my group were always encouraging and willing to give helpful feedback throughout every practice.  I will never forget our fun times back stage as we gave each other pep talks right before each one us preformed, and when we danced out our nerves behind the curtain right before we did our walk for self expression." How will the experience of DYW help as you go to senior year of high school and beyond? "Going forth in life this experience will help me in many different ways.  I have definitely gained more confidence in myself during this time and I know that will better my day to day life. It will also help me know that I can do anything out of my comfort zone if I put my mind to it." Talk about all the special people that made this program special. "I appreciate all the DYW staff for all the hard work they put into making this happen for us.  Without you, it would not be possible.  I also appreciate Maddie(Maddie was last year's winner) and Delaney(Maddies sister who also won DYW in her junior year) for giving us motivation and hyping us up before we went on stage.  One huge thank you to all of my family and friends who helped me prepare for everything and prayed many prayers over me the last few weeks.  I am so blessed to have each one of you in my life and I would’ve have been able to get through it without you all. You’re the best."