Paige Worrell, 11, traveled to Houston, TX, for the national competition last week
Pleasant Valley School sixth-grader Paige Worrell, 11, is an animal whisperer, a sister, a cheerleader and now, the New Jersey Preteen National Teenager 2017. On Monday, Nov. 20, Paige and her mom Tracy flew to Houston, Texas, for the national competition where Paige took the stage for the first time against fellow preteens from across the country for the crown.
In the past, the state level competition held a pageant to determine who would be crowned, however this year the program held an at-large application process, judging applicants based on their involvement in school and volunteer community events.
“Paige is a shining example of today’s youth and will serve as a wonderful role model for all those she meets during the year,” State Director Candy Breen said in a release.
Never having participated in a traditional pageant before, the national competition will be Paige’s first experience.
“I’m excited for everything but I’m mostly excited because you get to have fun, you get to be yourself and you get to be creative,” Paige said.
According to Worrell, this is the last thing she had ever imagined Paige would want to do, since she is typically very shy and hesitant.
“This is something I never expected her to do,” Worrell said. “I don’t think she’s realized that she could win. She has not even thought about it, she’s just so excited to have fun, meet the other girls and to make friends.”
Recently, Paige went house-to-house throughout her neighborhood to collect donations for the Gloucester County Animal Shelter and received more than 200 towels, toys, bags of food and blankets to provide for the animals.
In Texas, Paige will go through a series of five-minute interviews with each of the four pageant judges, as well as take the stage in her “Cinderella” evening gown, and “personal expression” jeans, which are handmade to express her interests and hobbies. Paige’s jeans included a paw print for her love of animals, cheerleading, an American flag and flag of China, as well as a photo of her and her sister, Emma, whom she “prayed into the family,” according to Worrell.
Paige is one of seven children, four whom were adopted from China and are deaf. With a father who is also deaf, Paige was fluent in sign language by the time she was 9 months old. Worrell said it wasn’t until Paige was about 3 years old that she and her husband began the process of adopting their first son from China. Unaware of her parents’ plans to adopt, Paige began praying each night at dinner for her sister Emma.
“I prayed and said, ‘please take care of my sister Emma who is in the hospital, and please make sure the doctors take good care of her,’” Paige said.
“She didn’t have a sister named Emma,” Worrell said. “We just looked at each other and thought, ‘she has some elaborate imaginary friend.’ But, she prayed for Emma for three years, every night at dinner.”
By the time Paige was 6, Worrell said the family was planning their second trip to China to adopt another son when the adoption agency found a girl.
“They had sent me pictures of girls in the past and she’d always say, ‘that’s not my sister,’ but when we showed her this picture she said, ‘that’s her, that’s my sister, that’s Emma,’” Worrell said. “It shouldn’t have happened, it shouldn’t have been possible to add her into our trip with our son, but her timing matched up with his perfectly.”
Over time, Worrell said, it was discovered Emma was just a few months apart in age from Paige, and had in fact been in the hospital, not doing well, at the time Paige began praying for her three years prior.
“They are soul sisters,” Worrell said.
Through America’s National Teenager Program, Paige will be partnering with the Miss Amazing Pageant, a nonprofit organization designed to provide young girls and women the opportunity to participate in a pageant dedicated to “teaching life skills through the interview, introduction, evening wear and talent competitions.” Inspired by her sister’s crown and title, Emma hopes to join Miss Amazing in the spring, with Paige by her side to support her.
To support Paige and the Miss Amazing Pageant, visit donate.missamazing.org to make a donation. Also, check www.mullicahillsun.com for an update on Paige’s national pageant results.
