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Rachel Morgan of Hazelwood North Middle School is the Pre-Teen Missouri Titleholder
RACHEL MORGAN, a sixth-grader at Hazelwood North Middle School, poses with her father, the Reverend C.E. Morgan and all of the Pre-Teen America and Pre-Teen Missouri trophies and other awards she has earned since 2006.
A Hazelwood North Middle School sixth grader emerged as the 2008 Senior Division Titleholder at the Pre-Teen Missouri Scholarship and Recognition Program.
“I actually haven’t started believing that I won yet,” Rachel Morgan, 11, said. “I don’t feel like I have changed.”
Morgan had the highest cumulative score in the 10- to 12-year-old division from the seven evaluation categories – academic achievement, school honors and activities, development of personal skills and abilities, volunteer service to school and community, general knowledge assessment, communicative ability and on-stage acknowledgement of accomplishments. For her win, she received a $1,000 savings bond, a Pre-Teen America jacket, a monogrammed banner, a medallion and a trophy.
“We all cried after she won,” said her father, the Reverend C.E. Morgan. “Even her mother cried and she never does that.”
The annual program, which took place in Jefferson City earlier this month, is designed to recognize the state’s outstanding pre-teens as well as to provide a way to promote high moral standards of excellence, fellowship, family values and social development. The girls compete in two separate groups, juniors ages 7 through 9, and seniors, ages 10 through 12, for more than $25,000 in savings bonds, prizes and awards.
This year, 93 elementary and middle school girls from around Missouri competed. As one of the 20 semi-finalists, Morgan demonstrated her piano proficiency for the third year in a row, winning the optional senior talent portion of the competition with Chopin’s Waltz Op. 64, No.1.
“The girl I tied with last year at state was there again this year,” Rachel said. “When I heard she was first runner-up, I thought, ‘This is weird – I might win!”
A new optional category this year for Morgan was the speech competition. Her two-minute monologue, “How Pre-Teen America Has Made Me a Better Student, Citizen and Individual” tied for first place in the senior division.
“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh! I might win or tie for the win! I could win!'” Rachel said of her speech performance.
Morgan also received the Spirit of Pre-Teen America Award. This award goes to the young lady who best demonstrates the spirit of the program and the winner is chosen by her peers
“I went crazy,” Rachel said after her multiple wins. “Before they announced the spirit winner, everyone around me was saying, ‘You’re going to win’ and they started congratulating me. Everyone was taking pictures of me and that was weird because I have never had that many people taking pictures of me at one time.
In the three years that Rachel has participated in the pre-teen competitions, she has won $1,500 in savings bonds, 13 trophies and two medallions. This year, with her second trip to Pre-Teen Nationals in Baton Rouge, La., she won the senior talent competition.
“The talent portion was the hardest because I learned how to play the piece for nationals this summer and after that, I started making mistakes and that made me really scared,” she said.
In order to convince other interested girls to try out for the program, Rachel said she would emphasize key points.
“You can make life-long friends through Pre-Teen America. It is a good program to get recognition and the friends you make are some of the best friends you could possibly have.”
Pre-Teen America will also provide her with travel opportunities. Rachel and her father already met Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and she traveled to another Pre-Teen America state event in Tupelo, Miss. in early September. After appearing other Pre-Teen state events in 2009, Morgan will represent Missouri at the national level again next summer.
She turns 12 this fall, making her ineligible to return to the state competition so Rachel has extra motivation to compete for her final and highest prize – to be the Pre-Teen America National titleholder.
