APHS Student hosts Saturday fundraiser at Words!
Self published author heads to DC for inaugural Miss Earth Teen US
Seventeen-year-old Eddia Watts decided to be a pageant contestant to not only further her personal goals but as a platform that pays homage to her hometown.
“I honestly love my state, and I wanted to show the United States that Asbury Park isn’t such a bad place,” Watts said in an e-mail interview.
“Asbury Park is just a square mile, but it’s so much more than just a square mile,” she said in a new release by city Communication’s Director Hannah Walker.
On June 17 she was crowned the 2016 Teen Miss New Jersey, qualifying her for the inaugural Teen Miss Earth United States, to be held from July 31 to Aug. 2 in Washington DC.
The Philippines based Miss Earth Organization has operate as a franchise for 15 years in United States franchise but this is the first year contestants ages 14 to 18 will participate in the pageant that focuses on environmental issues through community service.
“To me it means outreach in the community, and helping with the environment,” Watts said in the city’s news release. “One of the major things for me is clearing out the ocean. I’ve participated with the Quality of Life Committee’s Pride in the Park cleanups, and I’ve been clearing up the beach on my own time.”
The Asbury Park High School student may have begun her pageant career as a gateway to a modeling, but has a host of other goals in mind.
“I have so many things I want to do when I grow up,” she said.
Her plans include attending New York University to study either communications and broadcasting, performing arts, or creative writing, she said. And while she wants to pursue modeling, “I always have my writing to fall back on,” she said.
Watts, who holds a 4.0 GPA, is head of her high school’s newly created news station – Bishop Broadcasting Network. The AP student has written fourteen novels and self published “Elena: The Beginning” in October.
Her love of books and writing is what makes her 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday fundraiser at Words! bookstore on Cookman Avenue a fitting venue.
Local businesses have come together to donate gift and silent auction that include gift certificates, a hookah, and a barely used grand piano. The event will include refreshments by Belmar-based Sweet Tease, and an opportunity to take pictures and get autographs from Watts.
Attendees may get a chance to meet Watts’ sister Eddeja [shown in above right photo], who is following in her footsteps. The 15-year-old said she wants to be an actress, specifically in action films. She will compete for the National American Miss New Jersey Junior Teen title in August.
“I wanted to run for this title because I have been watching my older sister compete in pageants for a year now,” she said. “I’ve watched her grow and become a better person and I want pageants to do the same thing for me.”
The girls mother Wendy Lucas [shown in above right photo] said she supports her daughters’ pageant goals.
“I try very hard as a single mother to help them fulfill their dreams so they may have a better life then I may have had,” Lucas said.
Watts also launched a GoFundMe campaign to help further their goals.
In the city’s news release, Watts said, “For the longest time as a kid I was depressed, down on myself, afraid to put myself out there. To this day, I can be extremely shy and have a hard time talking to people or opening up to new people. Participating in pageants has been huge for my confidence, it’s made me feel a hundred times better about myself.”
When asked what the biggest challenge facing students her age, this is what Watts had to say:
“The biggest challenge facing kids today would have to be cyber bullying. While I believe it has decreased, some teenagers still tease others who don’t deserve that kind of treatment. I think we need to make a stand against cyber bullying and we need to stop it from happening.”
Mayor John Moor [shown in above right photo with Walker and Watts] said in the news release, “We’re very proud that someone from Asbury Park is representing the City, not only on a state level but on a national stage. We wish Eddia the best at this competition, and on all her future endeavors in the pageant world and beyond.”
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