ORRINGTON – Katee Stearns of Orrington recently became the first young woman in the Bangor area since 1993 to become Maine’s Junior Miss.

“It feels great. It really does,” Stearns said of the overall experience. “I’m really excited to represent the state.”

Stearns, 17, competed against nine other young women – one from Lewiston, one from Dover-Foxcroft, one from Lincoln, and the rest from northern Maine – in the Maine’s Junior Miss Scholarship Program, held March 13 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center. She received $2,400 in scholarships to attend the University of Maine, and will represent Maine at the America’s Junior Miss Pageant in Mobile, Ala. The event will be broadcast June 26 on PAX TV.

To qualify for the Maine Junior Miss Scholarship Program young women must be in the top 12 percent of their senior class in high school and have a talent. Participants are judged in scholastics, fitness, talent, poise and interview. Stearns placed second in scholastics and interview, and first in poise, where she had to state her thoughts in an approximately 30-second speech on President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act.

Stearns talent is dancing, and she did a hip-hop routine to Christina Milian’s “When You Look At Me.” She appreciates the song’s message, which she said is about not judging a person by appearance or from a first impression.

“My first love is dancing,” Stearns said.

She began dancing at age 3 or 4, “since I could move without falling down,” and has done several different types of dance, including swing, tap, jazz and flamenco. She also is an all-star cheerleader, and co-captain of cheering and dance at All Stars Classic Cheering, along with friend Stephanie Tracy of Bangor. She runs two to three miles every day.

“I just love to run,” she said.

The pageant interview was held with several judges.

“They asked me everything,” Stearns said. Among the questions were what animal she would be, whether or not she thought homosexuality was inborn or learned and a question about Martha Stewart. She also was asked who was the greatest influence in her life, and told the judges, “My mom.”

“I love my relationship with my mom,” she said. Her mother, Karen, works for Eastern Maine Medical Center at Norumbega in Brewer.

Stearns said she appreciates the Junior Miss program’s attention to scholastics. The experience showed her that doing well in school really does matter.

“Finally, I get the recognition for trying so hard in school,” said the John Bapst Memorial High School senior, whose grade average is around an A.

For the national event in June, Stearns plans to perform a lyrical ballet routine. She will leave June 12, six days after high school graduation, to participate in pageant activities for two weeks with 49 other young women.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “I really just want to put Maine on the map.”

Stearns hopes to meet as many of the other participants as she can. She described the Caribou event as being like “one big team.” The 10 young women supported each other throughout their time together, and Stearns stays in touch with some of them. All are planning a reunion in Caribou.

Stearns plans to attend UMaine for a year and then possibly transfer to the University of Tampa in Florida. She is undecided about her major. Initially, she was interested in marine biology, having a love of dolphins, but learned that there doesn’t seem to be much demand for marine biologists. She hopes to do something dance-related such as physical therapy for dancers, or kinesiology exercise science, which includes nutrition.

“Anything biological,” she said. One long-range goal is to set up a cheering gym with a friend, an aspiration she described as “our American dream.”

Junior Miss Scholarship Programs afford an opportunity for help with college, Stearns said, and she hopes that other young women will consider participating in the future.

For information on America’s Junior Miss Pageant, and state and local programs, visit the Web site at www.ajm.org.