Plant City native Jada Brown, a court member in the 2019 Florida Strawberry Festival Queen Scholarship Pageant, is wearing another crown.
Brown, a senior majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry at Lane College in Jackson, TN, captured the Miss Tennessee Volunteer title on Saturday, July 29 at the Carl Perkins Civic Center in Jackson, Tennessee. The pageant, a service-oriented scholarship program, honors young women who demonstrate a genuine commitment to making a positive impact in their communities through volunteer work and who embody the values of service, compassion and leadership.
After winning the title, her phone was flooded with calls and texts from Plant City residents offering heartfelt congratulations. “My strawberry sisters, my strawberry moms, Di Lott, Donna Keel, Paul Davis, my former teachers at Strawberry Crest, my friend group, it feels like all of Plant City has reached out to me,” she said.
As Miss Tennessee Volunteer, Brown will serve as the Governor’s Official Spokesperson for Character Education in schools and be a Goodwill Ambassador for the newly-formed Miss Volunteer America partnership with St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Championing the platform “The Beauty Within Our Hands,” the 21-year-old presented an American Sign Language (ASL) song performance to “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman for the talent portion of the pageant.
“One of my sisters is deaf so part of my platform is educating students and teaching them beginner-friendly signs,” she said.
During her time as Miss Tennessee Volunteer, she promises to be the very best role model she can be and to strive to be a shining light when she enters every school to speak to youth. “I was taught to leave things better than I found them and that will be my mission for the next year while I travel the state of Tennessee, spreading my message about ‘CARE’ as my Character Eduction trait,” she said.
Brown qualified for the Miss Tennessee Volunteer Scholarship Pageant after winning a local preliminary pageant title, Miss Lane College, in March. It was her first time competing since the Queen Pageant. While she was nervous, she said it felt good to be on stage again and said the lesson learned in the Queens Pageant quickly came to mind. “The Florida Strawberry Festival Queen Pageant was an amazing experience and really shaped me into the woman I am today,” she said. “It taught me interview skills and how to talk to people.”
In addition to her role as Miss Lane College, Brown will hold the Miss Tennessee Volunteer title through 2024 and receive an $11,000 scholarship. She has also earned the opportunity to compete for the Miss Volunteer America crown on June 22, 2024.