Bork '17 Triumphs in National Competition

Skye Bork '17 was named the Distinguished Young Woman of America in a ceremony in Mobile, Ala., on Saturday, July 1. This national honor recognizes her myriad achievements, including academics, artistic talent, self-expression, and public speaking.

 

Bork is the first person from the District of Columbia to win the 60-year-old competition, and her triumph caps a particularly accomplished spring and summer: She earned induction into NCS's chapter of the Cum Laude Society, which highlights academic performance; she was named a semifinalist for the Presidential Scholars Program; she received the Martha Sharma Award for achievement in geography; she was selected to present during an entrepreneur fair held at the Stuart Country Day School in Princeton, N.J.; and she participated for the third time in the NCS/STA Dance Gala, where she performed the ballet piece (from Carmen) she brought to Mobile for the Distinguished Young Women national finals.

 

In those finals, competing against young women from the 50 states, Bork was the only contestant to rank in the top four in all five parts of the competition: fitness, interview, scholastics, self-expression, and talent. Each earned her a $1,000 scholarship, and she won a $30,000 scholarship for winning the overall title.

 

Distinguished Young Women is the largest scholarship program for high school girls, having provided more than $100 million in cash scholarships since its founding in 1958. (The contest was known as America's Junior Miss until 2010.) Participants also become eligible for scholarships through colleges and universities, and the program offers instruction through life-skills workshops. Previous national winners include ABC News's Diane Sawyer.

Congratulations to Skye on this wonderful honor!