It was a night of beauty and elegance on Saturday, April 30th as San Pedro High School (SPHS) hosted their annual ‘Miss SPHS’ pageant. Hundreds packed the Angel Nuñez Auditorium for an exciting show comprised of many entertaining segments, and of course, the election of the 2016-2017 SPHS beauty ambassador.
Master of Ceremonies, Angel Nuñez welcomed all in attendance and got the show off and rolling, inviting the audience to cheer loudly for their favorite contestant. He also mentioned how the pageant is a great source for the school to raise funds, with this year’s proceeds going towards removing all of the chalkboards in the classrooms and replacing them with white boards.
Faith Edgar, sponsored by Sandy Point Real Estate, Norma Lopez, sponsored by J&H Golf Cart Rentals, Lisandra Novelo, sponsored by Castillo’s Hardware and Janelly Aban, sponsored by Water Jets International Limited, made their first glamorous appearance via a choreographed dance.
In the first category, the four delegates presented costumes that reflected Indian Goddesses of Shiva (Faith), Hanuman (Norma), Saraswati (Lisandra), and Brahma (Janelly). They all showcased many traditional dances from India, and the crowd cheered loudly at their versatility in blending with other cultures.
Entertainment was never short, as performances from talented SPHS students kept the audience engaged between intermissions with a variety of songs, raps, poetry, dances, and band music from Caribbean Kings. The San Pedro Dance Academy showed their pride for Belize by dancing to Punta music during a special cultural presentation.
This year ‘professional attire’ replaced the swimsuit category from the previous years. With interesting career choices, Faith presented her desire to become a Belizean soldier, especially with the ongoing Guatemala/Belize territorial dispute. Norma’s intriguing career choice was displayed with a space suit as she desires to become an astronaut. Since tourism is relevant to San Pedro, Lisandra selected to become a flight captain and Janelly seeks to become an accredited lawyer in Belize.
Sports dominated the stage in the third segment as each delegate represented a different sport. Faith showed her love of volleyball in her gym shorts and crop top. Norma represented softball, displaying the uniform of SPHS award-winning softball team. Lisandra showed her love for basketball, while Janelly represented San Pedro’s favorite sport: football.
After one last performance, the lovely ladies made their final appearance onstage dressed in beautiful gowns. But, beauty went beyond looks in this category as it also consisted of a “Q & A” segment. All four contestants were challenged with randomly selected questions based on community and social issues. Each contestant answered her question with grace and to their best intellectual ability.
In the end, only one could be the winner, and that decision was in the hands of the four judges who have dedicated their past to pageants: Jonelle Tillet, Aricelli Cadle, Amanda Taylor, and Negril Crawford. Tabulators Dayrine Sandoval and Rodolfo Eck were in charge of counting the final scores handed down by the judges.
The pressure in the auditorium escalated as the announcement of the winner finally arrived. But before announcing the winner of Miss SPHS 2016-2017, Nuñez announced the winner for the side categories. Lisandra was named Miss Popularity, while the titles of Miss Photogenic and Ms. Congeniality were both awarded to Janelly, and Miss Amity and Miss Eloquence went to Norma Lopez.
The first runner-up was Janelly Aban, and the new Miss SPHS, Faith Edgar, was crowned by the outgoing Miss SPHS Shelia Chi. The crowd cheered loudly for Faith, who graciously waved from onstage. Among many prizes, Faith received a one-year scholarship to SPHS, a one-day sailing tour with 15 friends, various gift certificates, and a grand prize from Warpaint.
The SPHS would like to acknowledge their main sponsors, Sandy Point Real Estate, J&H Real Estate, Castillo’s Hardware, Water Jets Ltd., The Hidden Treasure, and Elsa Paz for making the pageant a great success. The San Pedro Sun congratulates Faith for winning the title of Miss SPHS 16-17.
