Katherine Beasley has a lot to celebrate these days.
She will turn 18 on Thursday. She will travel to Poland in December to compete with the USA Dance Company at the World Jazz and Modern Championships sponsored by the International Dance Organization. And she will participate as Arkansas’ Distinguished Young Woman at the national Distinguished Young Women program in June 2018 in Mobile, Alabama.
Beasley of Conway won the state Distinguished Young Woman title Aug. 19 at Bald Knob High School.
“That was one of the best days of my life,” she said recently at her home, where she lives with her parents, John and Kristie Beasley, and her 20-year-old sister, Elizabeth. Katherine is a granddaughter of Priscilla Waszkiewicz and Rod and Betty Beasley, all of Conway.
“This is a scholarship program,” Katherine Beasley said of the Distinguished Young Women program, which was known formerly as America’s Junior Miss. “I heard about it from a friend and checked it out online. I saw that it promotes scholarship, leadership and talent, and I thought, ‘I can do that.’”
Beasley applied and was accepted to take part in the state program, which she went on to win.
She said contestants are judged in five categories — scholastics, interview, talent, fitness and self-expression.
“I won all categories except dance,” she said, laughing. “I thought if I won anything it would be in that category — I have danced all my life.”
Beasley performed a tap dance for her talent and will do a similar dance at the national program, which will be held the last two weeks in June 2018.
“They pay for everything at the national program,” she said. “They pay for the airline tickets, the hotel room, everything.”
Beasley said there has not been a national winner from Arkansas in more than 40 years.
“I would love to bring home a win for Arkansas,” she said.
She said that after she returned to Conway as the state winner, she organized a community-service project. She collected used backpacks, filled them with supplies and donated them to schools in the Conway School District.
Beasley said the 51 young women who will participate in the National Distinguished Young Women program will spend the first week getting to know each other and volunteering in the local community. The second week will be devoted to preparing for the showcase and performing onstage during the national finals webcast.
Beasley said she would encourage any girl who is a junior or senior in high school to consider participating in the Distinguished Young Women of Arkansas program next year.
“It’s a great program,” she said. “They are trying to expand the program here in Arkansas.
“I got so close with all of the girls. There were only five of us, but it was a great opportunity for us to get closer and grow from being around each other.”
More information on the state program is available at www.distinguishedyw.org or by calling the state chairman, Krista Brimer, at (501) 230-5713.
Beasley takes dance lessons at Rock City Dance Center in Little Rock with Kristen Pittman,
artistic director. Beasley is part of the USA Dance Company that will participate in the world championships Dec. 1-10 in Rawa Mazowiecka, Poland, which is near Warsaw.
Pittman said this is the first time this dance company will compete in this world championship, which is organized by the International Dance Organization.
“USA Dance Company is honored to be selected by the United States Dance Federation to represent our country on the international stage at this prestigious event,” Pittman said. “In the inaugural year of the USA Dance Company, we hoped to field a small, dedicated and talented team to represent the USA in the junior and adult divisions — and I believe we have done just that. We have assembled a team of 19 talented dancers from seven cities in three states. In the future, we plan to expand this program to include more dancers from across the country. The team is under my direction and has an assistant coach, Sydney Smith.”
More information on USA Dance Company can be found at www.usadancecompany.com.
As a home-schooled student, Beasley has been taking concurrent classes for two years at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. She said those classes count as
Advanced Placement classes in high school and have allowed her to accumulate a grade-point average of 4.11. She has also made a 30 on her ACT. She is classified as a freshman at UCA but plans to transfer next year, hopefully to the University
of Alabama. She was set to visit that campus this weekend.
“I hope to get a full scholarship,” she said, adding that the national Distinguished Young Woman program awards thousands of dollars in cash scholarships.
Beasley’s ultimate career goals are to dance with the Radio City Rockettes and become a lawyer.
When she is not at school or dancing, Beasley is active at First United Methodist Church, where she works with a Sunday School class for kindergartners.