Hannah Roque Visits Section 36!

Section 36 has another visitor! Hannah Roque is passionate about STEAM, a talented singer, and the current Miss Champlain Valley. I was thrilled that she was willing to visit with us to discuss those topics, and a few more!

So, let's see what happens when Hannah Roque visits Section 36!

What made you want to participate in the Miss VT preliminary program as Miss Champlain Valley?

I was already very seriously preparing for the Miss Vermont 2020 competition when we had to postpone because of the pandemic. When the Miss VT preliminary program was rolled out, I jumped at the chance to become more involved in the organization that I love so much! It is such an honor to represent the Champlain Valley in Vermont. I am currently a student at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, VT, which is in the Champlain Valley, as is my hometown of Middlebury, VT! It’s very meaningful to me to be able to represent this beautiful region alongside Lake Champlain! 

 

You finished second runner up at the last Miss Vermont competition. What did you learn from that experience that will help you the next time you compete?

When my name was called as second runner up at the Miss

Vermont 2019 competition, I was in complete shock! It was my first time ever competing so I went in just trying to learn as much as I possibly could; placing in the top 3 had never crossed my mind as I was preparing, so I was incredibly excited when my name was called! This experience really boosted my confidence in myself and as a performer. The most important thing I learned while competing was how to be my most authentic self both on and offstage. I’m still growing and learning as a person, but competing has helped me find who I am! I think all of that personal growth will help me achieve my goal of becoming Miss Vermont, while still staying true to myself! 

 

You were able to represent Vermont at the Miss National Sweetheart pageant. What was that experience like?

Competing at the National Sweetheart Pageant was an experience like no other! Being able to take all that I had learned on the Miss Vermont stage and apply it to a national pageant was an amazing opportunity to grow as a person. I absolutely loved the opportunity to meet 30 other incredible women from across the country, many of whom I still talk to today! Everyone in the town of Hoopeston, IL was so welcoming, and I instantly felt like I was part of the community while I was there. Representing Vermont at the National Sweetheart Pageant reaffirmed my dream of becoming Miss Vermont, and I will forever be thankful for this learning experience! 

 

How did you select your “STEAM Education” social impact initiative?

As a double major in English and Secondary Education with a

minor in Chemistry, I have always seen the overlap between STEM and the Arts. It is something that I am incredibly passionate about incorporating into my future classroom, but as I’ve continued with my education, my social impact initiative has morphed into something larger than STEAM. Through many experiences observing and teaching classes at all different grade levels, I’ve noticed that many students aren’t excited about the content that they’re learning. My new social impact initiative, Building Bridges to Success, is focused on helping students connect and engage with their education in meaningful ways. It is so important to help all students find meaning in their education, and I am excited to go into schools and talk to students of all different age groups. 

 

As a talented singer, what is your favorite part about performing your talent on stage?

I love getting the chance to show my personality through my song choice and choreography. I’ve performed in many musical theater productions, so getting the chance to showcase my own personality onstage is always exciting!

 

If you could be a Disney Character for a week, who would you choose? Why?

I would want to be Ariel! I’ve always loved her songs, and I would love to be a mermaid for a week! The Little Mermaid has always been my favorite Disney movie, so I would love the chance to live out Ariel’s life! 

 

As a fan of Broadway shows, what’s the show you most want to see once the theaters open again?

I actually had tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child 

Photo by
Jon Adams

back in May, so I’m really excited to go and see it when theaters reopen! I’m a massive Harry Potter fan, so I’m looking forward to getting to experience the world of magic onstage! 

 

If you had an extra ticket to a Red Sox game, who would you take with you? Why?

I would bring my dad! He is a diehard Red Sox fan, so he’s the reason that I became a fan as well. Once it’s safe to travel and go to sports events again, I hope he and I can make a trip to Fenway and catch a game! 

 

Is there a feature or activity at Fenway that you’d especially like to experience?

As a singer, I would love to sing the National Anthem before a game. It would be such a dream come true to sing for a large audience at an iconic New England venue! 

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I’d love to be there to hear that!

As always, I want to thank Hannah for visiting with us, and for sending along the wonderful pictures to go with the interview.

As Hannah continues her time as Miss Champlain Valley, I encourage you to check out her Instagram account. It’s a great way to keep track of everything she has going on!

I also definitely want to wish her the best of luck whenever she competes for the Miss Vermont title. It would be wonderful to have another Section 36 visitor wear that crown!

Thanks again Hannah, and good luck!

Sabrina Gauthier Visits Section 36!

Section 36 has another visitor! Sabrina Gauthier is passionate about helping foster families, an author, and the current Miss Sanford. I was thrilled that she was willing to visit with us to discuss those topics, and a few more!

So, let's see what happens when Sabrina Gauthier visits Section 36!

What made you want to participate in the Miss Maine program as Miss Sanford?

Sanford is such a unique place to live. The diversity that sits within this small Maine City is really amazing. I have lived here for three years and still seem to experience something new every week. To be able to carry the title of Miss Sanford to the Miss Maine stage gives me the chance to represent everything Sanford has to offer. I hope to  do my city proud and bring home the crown!

 

You finished first runner up at last year’s Miss Maine competition. What did you learn about yourself from that experience that will help you the next time you compete?

Placing first runner up has taught me more than I ever thought

it could and I’ll sum it up into two points: 1. Trust in your timing and 2. Learn to objectively judge your performance. Trusting in your timing is incredibly important and a mantra that I carry with myself throughout all areas of life -  not just pageantry. At the time, I’ll be honest, I was disappointed to hear my name be called as first runner up. Obviously I was hoping to walk away with the win but I was ecstatic for my sister queen to be crowned. I mentally stepped back and told myself that my time will come and that if it was meant to be it would have been. I look forward to stepping on the stage again this year! My other lesson was to look at my performance objectively. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the scores or judges' feedback. I had to think back to my performance and give myself some sort of score to figure out how to best improve. After analyzing my competition I found the areas that weren’t as strong as I’d liked them to be and have put more focus to bring them up to par. I am excited to return to the stage with these lessons in my back pocket and some exciting surprises up my sleeve! 

 

 

Do you have a specific goal you’d like to accomplish during your time as Miss Sanford?

I plan to expand my social impact initiative to continue to spread awareness and information about the foster system in Maine and beyond. Currently, I’m working on several ideas on how to fundraise and help the Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine while Covid is still an obstacle.

 

How did you select social impact initiative: Fostering Friends?

I have four adopted siblings, one permanency guardianship sister, and several foster siblings. Growing up with my parents fostering I have been able to experience a whole world that many people don’t know exists. Fostering Friends started as volunteering with the Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine (AFFM) and has grown to encompass Foster Facts Fridays, fundraisers, several social media accounts, and even a website. I am so blessed to have this community that wants to know more about the foster care system in Maine and beyond and even donates to help families in the area. In short - I selected my SSI thanks to my family and the world they’ve shown me. 

 

You wrote a children’s book “Will She Ever Talk Again”? What was that like to put together?

Writing a book has always been a dream of mine. To be able

to combine this dream with my social impact initiative just made sense. I already had a loose concept of what I wanted my book to be about and spent some time refining my ideas into a cohesive plan. Once I had a general timeline of events and characters I did some research on how to write a children’s book. I then wrote out my drafts and came to a product I was happy with. The hardest part was finding an illustrator. I was able to partner with Badrus Soleh in Indonesia to bring my book to life! Finally, I independently published through Amazon. All in all from writing to publishing the book took around three months to become a reality. The whole process was such a surreal experience. I am so happy with my end product and that I am able to bring some representation of not only foster children but also non-verbal children into the literary spotlight. 

 

If you could be a Disney Character for a week, who would you choose? Why?

I would definitely be Anna from Frozen for a week! I actually have the chance to play Anna on a regular basis (during non-covid times) for a business in Southern Maine called “Rent-A-Princess”. I always have so much fun playing her! She’s so quirky and independent and loves to talk about chocolate and sandwiches - who doesn’t love that? The kids at parties are always so excited to see Anna too so to be able to live in that feeling for a week would be amazing!

 

What is your personal fitness routine?

Currently my fitness routine looks a lot different. It mostly consists of long walks with my dog and yoga sessions. I work two jobs that have me on my feet so I get the opportunity to be active throughout the day. When I am able to go to the gym I love mixing cardio with bodyweight exercises. Although yoga is always a constant!

 

If you had an extra ticket to a Red Sox game, who would you take with you? Why?

I would take my Mimi with me - she is a Red Sox super fan! It

would be so much fun to experience the atmosphere at Fenway with her and know that she would be soaking up and loving every moment of the experience. 

 

Is there a feature or activity at Fenway that you’d especially like to experience?

I would LOVE to attend a “Dog Day at Fenway” event! Dogs are my all time favorite animal and my pup Max would be the best companion. He’s so social and would make a ton of new friends. Although, I doubt we would pay attention to any baseball with so many furry distractions! I would also have to keep Max far away from any popcorn - he loves it!

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Dog Day would be so much fun!

As always, I want to thank Sabrina for visiting with us, and for sending along the wonderful pictures to go with the interview.

As Sabrina continues her time as Miss Sanford, I encourage you to check out her Instagram account. It’s a great way to keep track of everything she has going on!

I also definitely want to wish her the best of luck whenever she competes for the Miss Maine title. It would be wonderful to have another Section 36 visitor wear that crown!

Thanks again Sabrina, and good luck!

Danielle Morse Visits Section 36!

Section 36 has another visitor! Danielle Morse is passionate about Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a firefighter, and the current Miss Addison County. I was thrilled that she was willing to visit with us to discuss those topics, and a few more!

So, let's see what happens when Danielle Morse visits Section 36!

What made you want to participate in the Miss VT preliminary program as Miss Addison County?

When I was a freshman in high school I was in the hospital for over a month due to complications after an appendectomy. After that I was selected to be the 2014 Children's Hospital Champion for Vermont. With this new title I went around to different fundraisers, events and trips for the hospital where I met Jeanelle Achee, Miss Vermont 2013, the future Miss Vermont 2015, Alayna Westcom, and Miss America 2015, Kira Kazantsez (Dixon). I thought they were the absolute coolest, and felt so lucky to meet them as my mom and I had watched Miss America together. I knew that I wanted to be Miss Vermont some day, because I wanted to make an impact on younger generations like they did to me. When the Miss Vermont organization came out with their preliminary program this year, I knew I had to jump on board right away. I have lived in Addison County my entire life, and have been apart of many organizations within, I have also experienced a tremendous amount of support from my community, so there was no other title I would rather represent. 

Do you have a specific goal you’d like to accomplish during your time as Miss Addison County?

Although I had already raised over $600 with my can drive for

the UVM Children's Hospital from March to July, (Which is when I got my title as Miss Addison County) my goal now as Miss Addison County is to raise over $1000. I knew that during this pandemic I wanted to make an impact, but I did not want to ask people directly for any money since I knew everyone was going through a hard time. I had thought of the idea of the can drive because I was able to go around picking up bags of returnables that people had collecting when they did not have the time to return them themselves, and I found it to be almost a relief for them because I got the bags out of their hair. 

 

What have you learned about yourself from past competitions that will help you whenever you compete for Miss Vermont?

From competing in Miss Vermont 2019 I learned simply that I was able to do so. I had always dreamed of competing in the Miss Vermont pageant growing up but did not think I had what it took. Like any challenge I put myself up to, I quickly became determined, and at this point I had less than four months to get ready for my first competition. I was so proud of myself that I simply got up on that stage and preformed with the best of my ability, excited for the years of competing to come. 

How did you select your social impact initiative, “Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals”?

My freshman year of high school I had an appendectomy at a

smaller hospital near my town, after a week of complications they had made the decision to send me to the University of Vermonts Children's Hospital in the middle of the night. I remember being wheeled through the hallway and seeing the murals that were painted cheerfully for all the patients, right away I felt more comfortable and that I was at the place that was right for me. During my month there, I had met some amazing people, the nurses, the child life specialist, the volunteers. etc. A little while later I was surprised with the opportunity to be the 2014 Children's Miracle Network Hospital Champion for Vermont, along with a young heroes award from the Vermont National Guard. I was able to attend fundraisers, events, and even a trip to Washington D.C to meet Michelle Obama and Disney World to meet John Schneider, Marie Osmond, Nick Cannon, the band Lady A (who sang me Happy Birthday for my 16th birthday!!) and Miss America 2015! Along with all this excitement and amazing opportunities that I am forever grateful for, I also realized that I wanted to be a nurse. Just like those that saved me and made me feel so comfortable in the hospital, and now I can proudly say that I am a senior in Nursing School. I love having the opportunity to give back to Children Miracle Network Hospitals especially UVM's, and selecting this as my social impact initiative seemed perfect. 

You currently work as a firefighter. What got you interested in that field?

It all started in 8th grade when I became suddenly interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter through my two older cousins interests. They had both been cadets (junior firefighters) for two towns near me and they both seemed to love it. We had an opportunity in Middle School to do an independent study, and I chose to do mine on Volunteer Firefighting. I was only 13 at the time, and in the town I lived in you had to be at least 15, so I had two long years to wait until I could join. The next meeting they held after my 15th birthday I dragged my mom to a meeting and quickly signed up. After that I was able to go to fire calls, and trainings, attend a cadet academy, and go to county regional fire schools. I was hooked, and 6 years later I am still doing what I love with hours of experience, scholarships, a Fire 1 certification, and even an Addison County Junior Firefighter award under my belt. 

What is your personal fitness routine?

I have never been big on going to the gym, I much prefer doing home workouts, or utilizing Vermonts beauty and

acreage to encourage a healthy lifestyle. Im lucky to live in an area where I can go swimming in our lakes and rivers, hiking on our trails around town or up mountains with beautiful views . In high school I was a year around athlete with being a field hockey goalie, cheerleader, and playing lacrosse, and after graduating I have had to find other ways to workout by myself. 

If you could be a Disney Character for a week, who would you choose? Why?

I quickly became fascinated with Elsa after watching Frozen in theaters back in 2013. I have grown up loving the snow, and my three sisters. I love that she represented being an independent woman, brave, and of course being a snow queen. I think it would be so much fun being her for a week and being able to have powers that controlled the winter weather. 

If you had an extra ticket to a Red Sox game, who would you take with you? Why?

I would take my oldest sister, Heather! Whenever she wins tickets to a concert or event she always asks me to go with her, and we have had some really fun times together, so this would be an opportunity to give back to her. She also went to college down in Boston, so she would be able to navigate us around the city with much less stress. 

Is there a feature or activity at Fenway that you’d especially like to experience?

I would love to be at Fenway for Vermont Day! I think it is so

cool that Fenway has a day special for each state in New England and I would love to be there to represent a fan from the Green Mountain State. 

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Vermont Day would be so much fun!

As always, I want to thank Danielle for visiting with us, and for sending along the wonderful pictures to go with the interview.

As Danielle continues her time as Miss Addison County, I encourage you to check out her Instagram account. It’s a great way to keep track of everything she has going on!

I also definitely want to wish her the best of luck whenever she competes for the Miss Vermont title. It would be wonderful to have another Section 36 visitor wear that crown!

Thanks again Danielle, and good luck!