Yesterday I was able to visit my old elementary school and talk to the first grade classes about my platform. I informed the children about the many aspects of animal abuse and how they can protect not only themselves, but eachother as well. They learned that it is not safe to approach anyone who is hurting an animal or a person and that they should tell a trusted adult right away. They also learned that those who hurt animals will also hurt people. The most important thing I stressed to them was that they don't have to keep anything they see or experience a secret. I told them that if they say something and tell their mother, father or teacher, they could make a world of difference for a pet or a human being. By the end of my talk with them they knew that they had this power to go out into their communities and change the world not only for animals but for people just like them! It was such an enjoyable time! The kids were so excited and went absolutely crazy when I told them I had some surprises for them! after I taught them a little bit about my platform and my quest to fight for animal rights they were all ready to do the activity. These kids are so special to me and I really wanted to make sure that I visited their school first. It was where I grew up and I remembered being right where they were! I told them that I used to go to the school too and their faces just lit up! I cut out about 42 paws for them to make sure everyone had one. I had them trace their hand in the middle of the paw to represent my platform of "Eliminating Abuse against Animals is Elimination of Abuse against Humanity". This really helped them understand my main message that when we are protecting animals we are protecting people too due to the fact that those who hurt animals always go on to hurt human beings and commit violent crimes. We must be able to pinpoint these people so that we can protect our communities in the best way possible.

There was one little girl in particular who was really pulling at my heart strings. She asked me if my crown was real. I brought a tiara for the first little girl who had a question about my crown. I explained to her what I do with my crown and how I promote my platform while trying to be the best me I can be. I told her I have a crown for her as well! I gave her the tiara which fit perfectly into her adorable pigtails and she was so happy! She reminded me of myself when I was young and I know she will grow up to make a difference just like all of the "princesses" she so admires!

When she made her paw she wrote "I love prinssis" in the middle of her hand tracing and I could not help but keep it :) I was so proud of how enthusiastic the children were. After the activity was over, I gave them their last surprise. I autographed a picture for each class with a little dog and a plush frisbee. They were asked what they would think of when the dog and their project that they had made for their classroom. They replied: "be nice to animals", "alway tell your mommy", and " make sick pets feel better". I was so proud of them for how absorbent they were with my message and I know that they will take that message and tell others! It was hard to leave them!

Later in the day I made an appearance at the "Pawesome Party" in broadalbin. This was a benefit put on by the PTSO within the school district. The idea of the benefit was that for every item brought by guests, they received a raffle ticket for the various prizes in the gymnasium. Each child also received a raffle ticket if they participated in getting their face painted. It was such a cute idea and I was so honored to have been a guest. My job was to give out the raffle tickets, glow sticks and scooby snacks! One little girl literally thought I was offering her dog biscuits LOL her face was priceless! She was happily surprised when she learned they were graham crackers! A mother with two absolutely beautiful twin daughters helped me at the greeting table. Her girls were so shy but soon wanted to go out onto the floor with me to read off the raffle tickets. They did such a great job! They took a picture with me and their pretty feet and I just swear they will both be Miss America someday!

Later in the evening I engaged in a good old fashion cotton eye joe dance with the kids! It was a sight to be seen for sure lol but it was really fun! The kids really enjoyed themselves and in all we collected about one hundred dollars in food and supply items for the Montgomerey SPCA! We took a picture with all of the food together for the newspaper and it was just amazing to see what the kids had done. I am so proud of them! The whole benefit was put on by Nancy Carr and a few volunteers and it was an outstanding outcome! My head really hurt from having that crown on all day, but I never want to take it off! I have worked so hard to get it and now I am able to use it to make huge differences in my communities and spread my platform message. I am determined to win this fight for animal rights and I am so thankful to the Miss America Organization, The Miss Empire Star organization and all of the people who honor me with appearance requests. Without them I would not be able to fight for animals as much as I do and teach others just how important it is to love them. We have the power to make a world of difference for them so let's start now!