JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local high school junior was crowned Miss River City’s Outstanding Teen 2018.
Brookie Brown, 17, will now go on to compete for the title of Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen, a sister program of the Miss America Organization, this summer in Lakeland.
Brookie didn't even plan to enter the Miss River City Outstanding Teen until the last minute.
It was her first pageant and she swept the crown.
"Everybody thinks that pageants are about putting on a fancy dress and looking, you know, all stunning and walking around a stage, and that's the opposite of what it is," Brookie said Monday. "I found out that it's a role and it's a job and it's a way to push what you're passionate about, like youth activism on breast cancer. When I found out about that, I was so, like, 'I need to do this. This is awesome.'"
PHOTOS: Brookie Brown crowned Miss River City's Outstanding Teen 2018
Brookie said she will spend this year as Miss River City Outstanding Teen to further her platform of breast cancer awareness and youth activism. She's publishing a cookbook to raise money.
The Christ's Church Academy junior has a 4.7 GPA and currently has more than a thousand hours of community service, much of it for the Donna Foundation. She will be working this Sunday's race.
She also holds a part-time job.
Brookie, who's my goddaughter, even taught me the pageant walk!
I can't believe the girl, who I visited on the day she was born, now wears a tiara!
I am personally quite proud.
Her talent? I voice I didn't even know she had.
Brookie also thanked her No. 1 fan, her mother Valerie. Brookie said they are a team and she wouldn't be where she is without her mom.
Congratulations, Brookie!