BookEnds Scrabble Challenge

This Thursday, March 8th, I had the opportunity to attend the annual BookEnds Scrabble Challenge in Los Angeles. I would like to thank Gayle Baigelman, the Associate Director, for having me at this amazing event! This fundraiser benefitted BookEnds, an organization established in 1998 that has donated more than two million books.

I really enjoyed meeting all the attendees and hearing how they are involved with children's literacy. I also had the pleasure of meeting Brandon Keefe, who founded BookEnds when he was only eight years old.

In addition to the delicious buffet dinner and silent auction, over 200 guests competed in the Scrabble competition. My partner Ashley Sacks, who is on the BookEnds Board of Directors, and I won our Scrabble game!

Ventura County International Pageant Practice

Sunday, March 4, was the last practice for the Miss & Miss Teen Ventura County International 2013 pageant. We reviewed all areas of competition and finished learning the opening number routine. A big thank you to our wonderful choreographer, Natalie Ozkilkis!

Left to right: Me, Natalie Ozkilkis, Allison Bowman

Tierra Linda Book Drive

On Wednesday, February 29th, I went to Tierra Linda, an elementary school in Camarillo, and left a box in the office for any book donations that students bring in. This book donation drive will last throughout the month of March. All of the used books will be donated to an organization called BookEnds, which distributes books to schools and youth organizations in desperate need of them.

Ventura County International Pageant Practice

This Sunday, February 26th, the contestants learned the opening number choreography and received their opening number dresses! Allison Bowman (Miss Ventura County Intl 2012) and I will be wearing blue cocktail dresses, and the contestants will be wearing fuschia dresses. It is such an exciting time - in less than two weeks, I will be crowning the next titleholder!

Ventura County International Pageant Practice

This Sunday, February 19th, was the second practice for the Miss & Miss Teen Ventura County International 2013 pageant. The contestants learned the walking patterns for the different categories of competition - fitness wear, fun fashion, and evening gown.

At the end of practice, we had a Valentine's Day party. Everyone exchanged Valentines and enjoyed some baked goods. Whoever said pageant girls don't eat was mistaken!

Ventura County International Pageant Practice

This Sunday, February 12th, was the first practice for the Miss & Miss Teen Ventura County International 2013 pageant. I am so excited that my friends Danica O'Malley and Alissa Leone decided to compete! Today's practice covered the interview and on-stage question categories. It was really interesting to hear about everyone's community service platforms.

Matters of the Heart Benefit

On Saturday night, February 11th, I had an amazing time at the Matters of the Heart Benefit at the Sterling Hills Country Club. Tatiana Juarez (Junior Miss Ventura County Intl 2012) and I sold raffle tickets to the attendees before enjoying the delicious Italian dinner and performance by marionette artist Scott Land. This fundraiser benefitted two wonderful organizations, Heart2Heart and Go Red for Women.

Ventura County International Pageant Orientation

On Sunday, January 29th, the orientation for the Miss & Miss Teen Ventura County International 2013 pageant was held. Allison Bowman (Miss Ventura County Intl 2012) and I both talked about our experiences in the International pageant system, what Crowning Glory Productions specifically taught us, and our favorite pageant appearance. I was so excited to meet some of the new girls competing! I can't wait for weekly practices to begin so I can get to know everyone.

Read to Me, Read to You

For the past three years, I have been a member of the Thousand Oaks Teen Advisory League (TOTAL), which runs the children's summer reading program at the library. Tonight, on January 26th, TOTAL organized the "Read to Me, Read to You" event at the Thousand Oaks Library. Teen volunteers were paired with a child to spend time reading together. Then, each child made a craft, on which they wrote why they love their library. These crafts will be hung in the library to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

Magic Tree House Book Club

It is hard to believe that Friday, December 30th, was the last meeting of the Magic Tree House Book Club. Running this book club over the past 28 weeks has been an amazing experience. I love working with children and enjoyed the book club just as much as they did! I am definitely going to miss everyone, but I am grateful to have been able to share my love of reading with the children.

For those of you who do not know about this book club, we met at the Newbury Park Library and Miller Family YMCA every Friday from 4:30-5:30pm. At each weekly meeting, I summarized one of the Magic Tree House books and asked open-ended discussion questions. This gave the children the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the book by sharing their own ideas and hearing different perspectives. I also planned three crafts, related to each week's book, for the children to make. These activities reinforced the children’s belief that reading is fun, an outlook that I hope they will maintain throughout their lives. This 200+ hour project has been a lot of hard work, but I know in my heart that it was worth every minute if I changed at least one child’s life through reading.

Before saying goodbye at this last meeting, I surprised the children with cake pops that I had baked earlier that day. The children were very excited to take their cake pops home for dessert!

Rotary Club Presentation

On December 21st, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak at a Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks Sunrise meeting about the children's book club I started. I am so grateful to be able to advocate for literacy throughout my community! In addition, I participated in the Rotary's white elephant gift exchange and ended up with a digital camera keychain and digital photo ornament. It was such a great morning! Thanks to Joe Joyce, President of the Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks Sunrise, for inviting me.

Camarillo Christmas Parade

On December 10th, I was in the Camarillo Christmas Parade. This was such a fun experience! I'd like to thank the Rusnak Audi dealership in Westlake Village for graciously lending their convertibles. I really appreciate it!

Camarillo Christmas Tree Lighting

On December 2nd, I made an appearance at the Camarillo Christmas Tree Lighting with my sister titleholders - Tatiana Juarez (Junior Miss Ventura County International 2012), Allison Bowman (Miss Ventura County International 2012), and Jennifer Morris (Mrs. Ventura County International 2012). We helped out with the grand opening of the store Rock This Town, as well as passed out cookies and wished passerbys a merry Christmas.

Magic Tree House Book Club

Forty-two million adult Americans can't read, and that number is increasing by 2.25 million people annually. Because of this, I have been trying to increase the literacy rate through the children's book club I started over the summer. By making crafts and playing games related to each week's book, the children begin to associate enjoyment with reading. I am so proud to have helped the children find or continue their love of reading.

This Friday, November 27th, we covered the 23rd book in the Magic Tree House series, Twister on Tuesday. In this book, the characters Jack and Annie study a familiar poem - "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." To coincide with the book, the children and I decorated wooden stars, made out of popsicle sticks, with markers, stickers, pom poms, and buttons. I even attached some string, so the craft doubled as an ornament for the holidays.

Magic Tree House Book Club

On Friday, October 28th, I ran the weekly meeting for the Magic Tree House Book Club.

To coincide with the 19th book in the series, Tigers at Twilight, the children worked on a variety of crafts - making a monkey, tiger, and lotus blossom.