Nov. 29, 2012 - The Cherokee One Feather

12 THURSDAY, NOV. 29, 2012 cherokee one feather/na tsalagi soquo ugidahliMeet the new Teen Miss CherokeeOn Thursday, Oct. 4, the TeenMiss Cherokee Pageant washeld at the 100th AnnualCherokee Indian Fair. There were sixcontestants running for this royaltyincluding: Bradley Welch and TaylorWilnoty from Cherokee HighSchool; Whitney West from CherokeeMiddle School; and Amy West,Kaniah James, and Adelia Crowefrom Swain County High School.The pageant was held at 6p.m.All the girls introduced themselves,talked about their chosen topic, andperformed a special talent they hadchosen. One of the highlights of thepageant was the traditional attireworn by the contestants. After thecontestants spoke about their chosentopic, judges announced the winners.The 2nd runner up went toAdelia Crowe from Swain, and thetwo contestants from Cherokee HighSchool secured the top two spots.The 1st runner up went to TaylorWilnoty, and Bradley Welch waschosen as the new Teen Miss Cherokee.Welch is the 17 year old daughterof Heather and Brent Younce andJake Welch. She is currently a seniorPhoto courtesy of Heather YounceTeen Miss Cherokee 2012 Bradley Welch is currently a senior at Cherokee HighSchool.at Cherokee High School. CherokeeHigh School newspaper staff recentlyinterviewed Bradley to get herthoughts on why she wanted to runand how she felt about becoming thenew Teen Miss Cherokee.When asked how it feels to be anambassador of the Eastern Band ofCherokee Indians, she responded,“Really exciting! I’m still in shockand unable to put my feelings intowords. It is a huge honor for me togo out and represent our tribe.”She decided to run for Teen MissCherokee in order to be a good rolemodel for the younger girls on theboundary and to teach them “it’sokay to be yourself.”When asked what she is lookingforward to and what she hopes tolearn from this experience, Welch responded,“I cannot wait for the HistoricWilliamsburg trip, or theWashington D.C. trip as well; and Ihope to learn more about my tribe.”She hopes to learn more about herpeople from this experience. Shehopes to make her people and schoolproud by “educating others aboutour tribe” and helping.According to Welch, success is“reaching your goals, even if it issmall goals.” She believes she has experiencedsuccess because she hasreached some of her personal goalsalready.One of her goals after highschool includes admittance to medicalschool. “Another goal would beto learn the [Cherokee] language andhelp teach it.”- Cherokee Central Schoolswww.theonefeather.com11/29