St. Albert teenager Chloe Fulton has earned the right to be one of the Alberta representatives in the Miss Teen Canada-World competition.
The 13-year-old Vincent J. Maloney Catholic junior high school student is the second local girl to win the Miss Teen St. Albert-World title and move on towards a possible national crown. She joins the ranks of her predecessor, Vanessa Peynenburg, as the second-ever area pageant title winner from St. Albert.
"I was looking for modelling opportunities and I came across this pageant," Fulton said. "I was reading last year's finalists' blogs and all of their information and I think that they had a really great time doing the pageant so I thought it would be a really great experience."
Every candidate must develop a platform that they will focus on during their term.
As a dedicated student who loves to read, Fulton said it was fitting that she focus on literacy through the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation.
"They donate books to schools in Canada who can't afford to have libraries and I really, strongly believe in that because reading's a big part of my life," she said.
In addition to focusing on the importance of reading, Fulton said she also looks forward to volunteering around St. Albert as well as continuing involvement in her regular activities of dancing, singing and hanging out with friends.
In July, Fulton and about 50 other provincial finalists will travel to Toronto to compete in the Miss Teen Canada-World 2012 national competition.
Words of advice
Peynenburg, 17, experienced a wide range of events during her year term and encourages Fulton to do the same.
"One thing that the pageant director kept telling us was that we really just need to take advantage of our year that we have because if there's ever anything that we wanted to do, that's your time to do it," she said.
She also encouraged Fulton to remain true to herself and not let the experience change her.
"There's always going to be criticism and stereotypes for beauty pageants and people trying to challenge her to look different or change herself in some way, but I think, especially at such a young age, it's important for her to just remain true to herself," she said.
This is something Peynenburg said is important for all young people to keep in mind.
She focused her platform on eating disorder awareness, after suffering from anorexia. She developed a campaign called "Be your own kind of beautiful" — the motto for the pageant.
"The thing that really drew me to the pageant was the motto: "Be your own kind of beautiful," she said. "That's what drove me, having gone through an eating disorder myself."
Although her reign is over, she said she hopes to continue spreading awareness around the issue, adding her term helped her conquer the illness.
"I find it's been really empowering just to get me over that final stage where I'm okay with myself and I can accept who I am and just kind of go out there and talk about it," she said. "I've always been a shy person, but through this experience I've had to open up and be a bit more confident."
Looking back at her experience, she admits it was daunting at first, not knowing what to expect or what people expected from her. Despite initial hesitations, she said she was able to overcome this and make the most of her year.
Notable events for Peynenburg were the city's Canada Day celebration, Rock'n August, the children's festival and the Special Olympics.
Her favourite experience, however, was the 2012 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games.
"I was an athlete ambassador for the week that it was going on and I've always been really passionate about working with teenagers with disabilities," she said. "I was just absolutely ecstatic to work with them for the week and I was really motivated by their drive and passion for what they do."
She said she will continue to work with organizations like this in the coming years. Peynenburg is graduating from St. Albert Catholic High School this year and will continue her education at the University of Alberta where she will study psychology.
