Desert Vista produces 2 Miss Arizona winners

by Colleen Sparks - Dec. 9, 2008 08:02 AM
Special for The Republic

A Desert Vista High School graduate and a senior have stepped from the classroom into the spotlight as the most recent Miss Arizona USA pageant winners.

Alicia Blanco, 21, a 2005 Desert Vista graduate, was crowned Miss Arizona USA 2009, and Whitney Nelson, 18, a Desert Vista senior, earned the Miss Arizona Teen USA 2009 title late last month.

Blanco and Nelson will go on to compete at the national competitions.

And these two aren't the first pageant winners to come out of the Ahwatukee high school. Last year Ashley Stainton, who is now a senior at Desert Vista, was named Miss Arizona Teen USA 2008.

Blanco and Nelson said Desert Vista's academic rigor, nurturing teachers and diverse extracurricular activities prepared them for the pageant.

"They gave me my diversity and support," Blanco, a junior at Arizona State University, said. "The teachers are so supportive."

At Desert Vista she said she participated in hip-hop dance, step team, salsa dance club, National Honor Society and a club that promotes higher education for Latinos.

In the Miss Arizona pageants, contestants are judged on their poise, beauty, confidence, character and personality in interviews and while wearing evening wear and bathing suits.

An honors student, Nelson started dancing at about age 2 and is on Desert Vista's company dance team. Captain of the varsity cheer squad, she also mentors students in a Phoenix school as part of the Community Counts Club.

Nelson said it was her first time competing in a pageant and she was shocked she won.

"I was like, no matter what happens I'm still going to have fun," she said.

Her Desert Vista English teacher last year, Leland Rodgers, was not surprised she won.

"She's just really focused and very dedicated," Rodgers said. "She's not necessarily a fanatic about it. She has a social life, she is very family-oriented."

Desert Vista sociology and psychology teacher Don Dumais said Blanco was "very engaging" and a student who "asked a lot of questions."

"You could tell she had a lot of compassion and concern for other people," Dumais said.

A broadcast journalism major, Blanco said a friend she met at ASU, Miss Arizona USA 2007 Courtney Barnas, encouraged her to enter the pageant last year.

"I told her, 'I'll give it a shot just for fun,'" Blanco said.

Blanco was first runner-up in Miss Arizona USA last year and said the experience "changed my life."

The pageants have motivated her to eat healthier and exercise more, she said. As Miss Arizona, she will help Go Red For Women fight heart disease and assist Chances for Children-Arizona in combating childhood obesity.

Nelson said her friend, Blanco's sister Lisa, 19, encouraged her to enter the pageant.

"I got a personal trainer," Nelson said. "I started working on communication skills. You need to push yourself to be the best you can."

Her father, Todd Nelson, said it was her idea to enter the pageant and he supports activities that develop confidence.

"It will be exciting and hopefully a magical year for Whitney," he said.

Lisa Blanco said her sister "gives me such inspiration."

"It's a great opportunity for all young women," Lisa Blanco said. "It does build a lot of character."