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Chicago Tribune
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Mother-daughter pageant winners focus on mental health as they prepare for next contest
As an avid dancer for much of her 14 years, Orland Park's Julia Yock the contemporary, hip hop, jazz and ballet choreography she so loves has propelled her to success, including becoming Miss Teen Illinois International 2025. But along with physical stamina, dancing and competing can require mental endurance as well. So her platform for the Miss Teen International contest is 'Dance with Ambition: For Mind, Body & Health.' Since being accepted into the pageant, she's been busy practicing for interviews, the walk on stage, and her overall demeanor at the competition, which is the week of July 24 and 25 in Kingsport, Tennessee. 'I've been a dancer my whole life and I've really seen through the whole experience — and especially doing it competitively — it's a lot on your body physically and mentally,' said Julia, who focused mainly on ballet and jazz in her earlier years. Though Julia has been participating in pageants since age 11, she got a boost last year as Miss Teen Greece International, when her mom joined in on the fun as Mrs. Greece International 2024. 'It was really exciting because it was the first time I ever did anything like that,' said Jennifer Yock, her mom. 'We had a really fun time doing it together.' Julia said though she hasn't experienced any mental health issues, she knows emotional challenges are more prevalent than ever. She's an ambassador for the National Alliance on Mental Illness South Suburbs, as well as Dancing for Dancers and I'm a Dancer Against Cancer, supporting organizations through fundraising. 'Dancing really helped me mentally, it's a great way for me to express myself or be myself,' said Julia. She wanted to represent Illinois for the current contest partly because she enjoys Chicago and the Midwest, finding the people here 'kind, outgoing and passionate.' 'The Chicago area has really good food, too,' she added. Julia also participates in cheerleading and enjoys scrapbooking. Her favorite subject at St. Michael School in Orland Park was science. She'll start this fall at Marist High School in Chicago. The mom/daughter team also cares about their heritage, which is why they wanted to participate in the 2024 contest focusing on Greece. 'I loved learning about my heritage,' said Julia. 'I was able to travel to Greece and I learned a lot about my family, where they were from (Athens) and the country and culture.' But their participation together was what made the experience even better. They both learned pageants are about more than just beauty. 'I'm so proud of her,' Yock said. 'I didn't know anything about the pageant systems but when I found out it was a great way for young girls to learn communication skills, interview skills, become confident in themselves. … That's the reason I got my daughter into this. As a mom, I have seen Julia grow so much in her confidence, people skills and communication.' Another element of the process has been face-to-face practice, important in an age where social media and texting rule. Julia said all the practicing for pageants has made a difference. She was accustomed to performing because of her dancing and cheerleading but interviewing was something new. 'I wasn't able to speak very well in front of people, I wasn't confident,' said Julia. 'But I feel the pageants have really helped me with that and helped me grow my confidence in interviewing.' The social element of pageants has been a perk, too. 'I really like meeting all the girls there because a lot of them are from different states and countries,' said Julia. 'I've made a lot of friends, too.'
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Plain Local student wins Repository Spelling Bee, earns spot in national event
JACKSON TWP. — U-V-U-L-A. This was the word that stood between Oakwood Middle School's Blaze Blacketer and the title in the Canton Repository's 79th Regional Final Spelling Bee. By the event's the seventh round, only two competitors remained − Blacketer and Tommy Schervish from St. Michael School in Plain Township. Blaze went first, correctly spelling 'nonchalance,' followed by Tommy, who needed to spell 'ufology.' He missed. To secure the victory, Blacketer had to correctly spell one more word in an eighth round. He didn't hesitate, correctly spelling the word that means "a pendent fleshy lobe in the middle of the posterior border of the soft palate." In other words ... it's the piece of flesh you see hanging down when you look at your throat in a mirror. The victory wins Blacketer a trip to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May outside Washington, D.C. Schervish took second place, and Haven O'Kelley-Hensley from Carrolton Middle/High School took third. "I didn't think I'd make it past the second round," Blacketer said. "I was surprised." Thirty-three students from Stark, Tuscarawas, Carroll and Holmes counties started the contest Saturday at Kent State University at Stark's Conference Center. The bee moved quickly from its very start, with more than a third of contestants missing their first words. Only 19 moved into the second round. Another eight were knocked out in Round Two. By the end of Round Three, only seven students remained. It got more difficult the farther into the match the students got. Only two students were eliminated in Round 4, and another two in Round 5. O'Kelley-Hensley went out in Round 6 on the word 'narcoleptic.' Schervish followed in Round 7, before Blacketer locked up the victory for Stark County. Blacketer's victory is only the second time a Stark speller has gone to the national event in the past five years. Tuscarawas County spellers competed in the Scripps National Bee in 2021, 2023 and 2024. The speller who won the title in 2020, Nick Williams, also was from Tuscarawas County, but that year the national bee was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The speller in 2022, Julianne Lillestedt of Canton Country Day School, won the Canton Repository bee to move on. Reflecting on his second-place finish, Schervish said he was happy to bring a trophy home. "I hope they're proud of me," he said of his classmates at St. Michael School. "I'm excited to be honored with this award." Tommy said he wished he could have won, but he was gracious about the experience. "I think I wish I could have closed it out better, but kudos to the first-place winner," he said, adding that he's looking forward to competing again next year. "He works really hard," said Sarah Schervish, Tommy's mother, "and just to get to this point, it's really impressive." Tom Schervish, his father, said his second-place finish was a testament to his son's hard work. "The amount of books he would go through on a weekly basis is crazy," he said. Along with the trophy, a plaque that goes to his school and bragging rights, Blacketer's victory comes a trip to Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. Spelling bee competition will be May 27-29. Blacketer will be competing in an important year for the Scripps bee. Organizers will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first national spelling bee. He said he's looking forward to traveling. "I'm excited. I don't think I'm going to win nationals, but I didn't think I was going to win this either," he said. "I'm just happy to be here." Lauren Thompson, his mother, said she was so excited to see Blacketer win the whole thing. "This is the third year in a row (he's competed), first year that he's gotten first place for his school," she said. "I am so proud of him." This article originally appeared on The Repository: Blaze Blacketer of Plain Local wins Canton Repository spelling bee
