Thirteen Milledgeville junior and senior girls in the America’s Junior Miss program are donating their time this week to educate more than 530 Baldwin County first graders about the importance of recycling for the Litter-acy Project, which started Monday and runs through Friday, before America Recycles Day Sunday, Nov. 15. Parent and volunteer Debbie Harshbarger said the program’s title “Litter-acy” combines two efforts that she feels the Junior Misses are worthy of — environmental responsibility and literacy.

Wal-Mart has donated their reusable blue bags in support of the campaign which will be given to each first grader along with a coloring book about going green, a brochure about litter dumping in Georgia and a bookmark created by first graders some years ago. The Junior Misses from Baldwin High School, Georgia Military College and John Milledge Academy will read a book focusing on litter prevention titled “The Wartville Wizard” to the first graders. Junior Miss alumni, Milledgeville’s Junior Miss Precious Lango and Baldwin’s Junior Miss and Georgia’s Junior Miss 2009 Natali Gavanarova are also participating.

Gavanarova said AJM is not a beauty pageant but a fantastic program for high school girls to learn about themselves and from each other. The Junior Misses efforts this week will hopefully help make the world a better and cleaner place to live.

“This is great because the kids in first grade learn from us, and when they get home they can push their parents to recycle,” said Gavanarova. “This is not a beauty pageant. It’s about well-rounded girls in this scholarship program.”

Baldwin County Junior Miss Director April Bragg said Milledgeville’s Junior Miss is currently in its seventh program year and is sponsored by Milledgeville Mainstreet. Brag also adds that once the young women become alumni of the program they always come back to participate in various activities.

“Junior Miss is more of a process ... once you enter in your junior year, you never really leave,” Bragg said.

Young women gain a sense of achievement, develop life skills and get the chance to build relationships through the AJM program. Junior Miss Kirsten Powelski said these are just a few of the program benefits that will contribute to her future.

“We try to get more girls involved in it every year. You can meet more girls involved from all over the state,” Powelski said. “It’s not about winning. You can learn so much about yourself through the program.”

Harshbarger said even though the Junior Miss contestants come from all walks of life, they all have one common characteristic: the desire to succeed.

“The girls develop the right opportunities and skills to be successful in life,” Harshbarger said. “We’ve had girls come out of college interviews and the interviewer would ask ‘have they had interview coaching.’ It’s great.”

Debra Messing, Diane Sawyer and Deborah Norville are just a few of the well-known Junior Misses who have become successful. Millions of dollars in college granted scholarships, more than $125,000 in cash scholarships and a gold medallion are all up for grabs in the 52nd AJM National Finals in Mobile, Ala., in June 2010. Two representatives from AJM’s local level will participate in the state level.

To learn more about AJM and its mission, visit www.ajm.org or call Baldwin County Junior Miss Director April Bragg at (478) 453-8718.

Junior Miss participants are:

Natali Gavanarova (Milledgeville and Georgia’s Junior Miss), BHS

Precious Lango (Baldwin’s Junior Miss), BHS

Kirsten Powelski, BHS

Elizabeth Gooch, BHS

Elizabeth Babb, BHS

Erin Morrow, GMC

Stephanie Seiberg, GMC

Courtney Kitchings, GMC

Andrea Sowell, GMC

Sara Gray, GMC

Taylor Reeves, JMA

Shelby Cloud, GCSU

Loribeth Berry, GCSU