Each year fifty of the nation’s brightest young women gather in Mobile, Alabama, to compete for cash scholarships and the honor of being named America’s Junior Miss. This year was no exception as young women from each state were welcomed by the Mobile community to spend two weeks preparing for the competition, meeting new friends, and volunteering in the community.

Among the fifty young women competing in the 2007 AJM National Finals was Jamie Franks of Oklahoma. Franks won the title of Oklahoma’s Junior Miss last year and traveled to Mobile in June to compete at the AJM National Finals. 

Franks says her experience in the Junior Miss program has inspired her to become an independent and successful woman. “I saw so many girls going places and doing great things in their lives and it made me want to become a better person” she explains.

Franks will be attending Southwestern Oklahoma State University this year and will be preparing for a career in pharmacy. She hopes to continue her involvement with the Junior Miss program by following in the footsteps of her older sister and starting more local Junior Miss programs in her area.

Founded in 1958, AJM’s goal is to honor young women who excel and to encourage them to obtain a college education and assume roles of leadership in their communities and professions. During the past 50 years, AJM has awarded $90 in cash scholarships to more than 700,000 college-bound young women who have competed in the program, including Diane Sawyer, co-host of ABC’s “Good Morning America” and co-anchor of “Primetime Thursday;” Deborah Norville, host of “Inside Edition;” E.D. Hill, an anchor on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends;” and Debra Messing, co-star of NBC’s “Will & Grace.”

AJM’s national sponsors are the City of Mobile, Mobile County, and the Mitchell Company. Category sponsors are Alabama Power, Encore Rehabilitation, Mobile Gas, Regions Bank, and Wintzell’s Oyster House.

For more on America’s Junior Miss program click here.