By SHIM LACY
For the Bulletin
Juelicia Roman is the newly crowned 2024 Miss Manteca.
Roman — and her fellow East Union High senior Jaden Gallego who earned the 2024 Manteca City Ambassador — were selected last Friday to lead the 2024 Manteca Youth Focus team.
It was another historic year for Manteca Youth Focus (MYF) as they celebrated 30 years of leadership, scholarship, and service and the completion of their annual scholarship competitions.
The organization awarded over $9,300 in educational scholarships and prizes to 35 young men and women of achievement from the greater Manteca community during a pageant conducted at the Cornerstone Community Church.
It was historic for:
*The largest amount of scholarships awarded in one year — $9,300.
*The largest number of scholarships awarded —35.
*The highest number of titles awarded din a single year — 23.
*The highest number of ambassador candidates — 14.
As MYF enters its third decade of service, the volunteer-led non-profit organization co-founded by Shim Lacy and Carol Suarez, under the direction of Scholarship Competition Division Director, Douglas Scott, haa awarded well over $150,000 in educational scholarships.
The theme of the show was “Rise Up for Freedom” with theme shirts sold to help fundraise for OUR Rescue (formerly known as Operation Underground Railroad) and their efforts to combat child sexual exploitation and human trafficking worldwide.
Over 34 volunteer judges participated in the selection process which awarded scores to each candidate in the areas of Service and Academics (20% each), as well as 15% each in Interview, Stage Arts, Speech & On-Stage Question.
In recognition of their unique talents and abilities the MYF Board of Directors awarded each contestant a “Starlight Award” in the phase of competition they scored their personal best as indicated in parenthesis below.
Here are the first place finishers in the Manteca Youth Focus Scholarship Competition on June 28-29:
*Miss Manteca Juelicia Roman (Community Advocacy Speech; $1,500)
*Manteca City Ambassador Jaden Gallego (Personality Interview; $1,500)
*Miss Teen Manteca Claire Carroll (Communicative Skills; $500)
*Teen Manteca City Ambassador Nihar Jain (Volunteer Service; $500)
*Miss Young Manteca Morgan Silva (Stage Arts; $200)
*Young Manteca City Ambassador Spandan Nikam (perfect score Personality Interview; $200)
As “captains” of the MYF All-Star Student Service Team, the city titleholder group has big plans for their community advocacy projects in the coming year.
Roman will be partnering with the City of Manteca Recreation and Community Services Department to host a sports equipment drive to help families in need.
Gallego will assist the HOPE Family Shelter and Second Harvest Food Bank of the Greater Valley.
Jain, a junior at East Union, will collect emergency preparedness supply kits and work with the City of Manteca Fire, Police and Emergency Services to distribute them to individuals and families in need.
Carroll, a sophomore at Sierra High School, has created a new Science Explorers program in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Manteca.
Silva will be hosting collection drives to gather personal hygiene and baby care supplies for the women and children through the HOPE Family Shelter and Love, Inc. of Manteca.
Nikam’s project will benefit the Ray of Hope Children’s Crisis and Resource Services of San Joaquin County.
Placing second in the competition for their age division – these are the representatives of the Manteca Sunrise Kiwanis and the 2024 Manteca Pumpkin Fair to be held this October:
*Miss Pumpkin Fair Kylie Anderson (perfect score Personality Interview; $500)
*Pumpkin Fair Ambassador Yatharth Katyal (Communicative Skills; $500)
*Miss Teen Pumpkin Fair Kayleigh Douglas (Stage Arts: $250)
*Teen Pumpkin Fair Ambassador Abhi Nair (Academic Achievement; $250)
*Miss Young Pumpkin Fair Alani McBroom (Personality Interview; $100)
*Young Pumpkin Fair Ambassador Darsh Joshi (Academic Achievement; $100)
Placing third in the competition for the upper age division and will serve as the representatives of the Manteca Chamber of Commerce and the 2024 Crossroads Watermelon Street Fair next June are:.
*Miss Watermelon Street Fair Sophia Costa (perfect score Personality Interview; $500)
*Watermelon Street Fair Ambassador Rohan Aravind (Community Advocacy Speech; $500)
*Miss Teen Watermelon Street Fair Danett Cesante (Communicative Skills; $250)
*Teen Watermelon Street Fair Ambassador Harshith Kumar (Academic Achievement; $250)
*Miss Young Watermelon Street Fair Charis Ang (Stage Arts; $100)
*Young Watermelon Street Fair Ambassador Ved Pattanashetti (Stage Arts; $100)
Placing fourth in the competition, these are the representatives of MYF and various winter holiday-themed events in the Manteca community including the Manteca Chamber of Commerce Twilight Holiday Parade and Christmas at the Park, City of Manteca Manteca Recreation Department Community Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and Christmas at the Center and the Hospice of San Joaquin Manteca Tree Lighting Ceremony.
*Miss Winter Fest Elizabeth Neuner (Volunteer Service; $250)
*Miss Teen Winter Fest Izabella Neuner (Volunteer Service, $125)
*Teen Winter Fest Ambassador Shaurya Khairmode (Stage Arts; $125)
*Miss Young Winter Fest Avani Shaw (Stage Arts; $50)
*Young Winter Fest Ambassador Shourya Gundawar (Personality Interview; $50)
The Pumpkin Fair, Watermelon Street Faire and Winter Fest titleholder groups will spend the coming year promoting their specific signature events and also working on advocacy projects and serving at numerous community events throughout the year.
Additionally non-finalist scholarships were awarded to the following participants. They are invited to continue to serve as a part of the MYF All-Star Student Service Team during the coming year.
*Saige Carstersen (Personality Interview; $100)
*Mallory Myers (Volunteer Service; $100)
*Harsh Konduru (Communicative Skills; $50)
*Kushaagra Patel (Communicative Skills; $50)
*Kendall Blackwell (Community Advocacy Speech; $50)
*Ariceli McBroom (Community Advocacy Speech; $50)
*Brooklynn Peterson (Academic Achievement; $50)
*Sumeet Chetri (Communicative Skills; $25)
*Dahlia Jauregui (Academic Achievement; $25)
*Tabreesha Katyal (Academic Achievement; $25)
*Anvi Sharma (Academic Achievement; $25)
*Abhavya Verma (Stage Arts; $25)
MYF also presented special awards in each age division.
The Talent “Imagination” Award goes to the highest score in the stage arts phase which was Roman, who delivered a spoken word presentation, Kushaagra Patel, who played the guitar, and Nikam, who delivered an original rap. The Academic Achievement “Resiliency” Award goes to the highest score in the academic achievement phase and was awarded to Roman and Anderson who tied in the upper division, Nair and Silva in the teen and young divisions, respectively.
Volunteer Service “Kindness Matters” Award is for the highest score in the volunteer service phase for which Elizabeth Neuner, Jain and Silva were chosen.
The “Most Inspirational Award” is voted on by the contestants and awarded to the individuals who best represent the mission and values of MYF and Silva and Costa were chosen. The 5th Annual “Breanne Wigginton Memorial Most Inspirational Award” was given to Costa.
The “People’s Choice Award” winner was chosen via a fundraiser voted on by members of the audience. Roman, Jain and Gundawar were chosen as the recipients.
The “Above & Beyond Recognition Award” recognizes contestants for going above and beyond in their fundraising efforts. The Above and Beyond Bronze Award when Silva; the Silver Award went to Nikam and the Above and Beyond Platinum Award went to Jain who won a family overnight stay donated by Great Wolf Lodge.
