App State student once dreamed of being a ballerina. She could be the next Miss America.

BY ALEXANDRA KARLINCHAK

JUNE 28, 2021 06:07 PM

Carli Batson crowns Miss North Carolina on Saturday at the High Point Theatre in High Point, N.C. PHOTO COURTESY OF PAGEANTPICS PAGEANTPICS

Carli Batson isn’t your typical pageant contestant. Then again, to her, “typical” is an an antiquated term.

Batson, 21, hasn’t been involved in pageants for long. It was during her junior year of high school that she entered her first competition: the Azalea Festival Princess Pageant in her native Wilmington. From there, she won Miss Wilmington, Miss Greater Sampson County and Miss Cleveland (NC).

On Saturday, she won the Miss North Carolina pageant in High Point. In December, she will compete in the 100th annual Miss America pageant. Former WBTV reporter Anne Marie Hagerty represented Mount Holly and finished as first runner-up Saturday.

“I love being on stage by itself, but I was immediately blown away by the number of opportunities and scholarships that the Miss America organization puts forward,” said Batson, a communications and public relations major at Appalachian State University.

While Batson might not have had years of pageant experience, she’s no stranger to the stage. In high school, Batson had hopes of becoming a professional dancer. She participated in a summer-long dance intensive with the renowned Joffrey School of Ballet in New York and dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina.

To pursue that ballet career required a steep financial commitment, and it was no longer an option when Batson’s father lost his job, she said. Still, with an unrelenting hunger to be on stage, Batson turned to the Opera House Theatre Company in Wilmington. There, she found a sense of community and learned about the scholarship opportunities through the Miss America organization.

The performing arts remain a major part of Batson’s life. She performed en pointe during the talent portion of the Miss NC pageant, scoring highest overall in her group.

The Miss America competition also requires its contestants to have a social impact initiative. Batson adopted Carolina Cares, an organization comparable to the Broadway Cares initiative.

Through Carolina Cares, Batson takes “Carolina blue” buckets into theaters across the state to collect donations during intermission and after the show. All proceeds go back to the performing arts center in which the donations were made.

“The most amazing story is that I was able to raise $8,000 in one night with Opera House Theatre Company,” Batson said. “With that money, we were able to send 31 students to theater camp completely free of charge that summer.”

As an Appalachian State student with a minor in theatre studies, Carli Batson has made it her goal both within the pageant and beyond to advocate for arts education opportunities throughout N.C. Meredith Fells MEREDITH FELLS

Batson credits her involvement in the performing arts for her ability to appreciate and recognize diversity in all forms. She considers herself an ally and supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and the LGBTQ community. Batson, who is white, says she plans to “promote and give volume to these voices, not just as Carli Batson, but also now as Miss North Carolina.”

Batson says she recognizes that race, education level, socioeconomic status and a multitude of other factors affect the way in which one experiences the world.

Now, some of the financial struggles that Batson worried about have faded away.

Within the past four years of competitions, Batson has earned enough money to cover her undergraduate studies in full and put her on track toward getting a master’s degree in public affairs and pursue a career in arts management.

“These are real women competing for real scholarships to pursue their real degrees,” Batson said about Miss America contestants. “We aren’t cover girls —we are activists, we are reporters, we are trailblazers and we are breaking glass ceilings. These are empowered women doing incredible things in our state and in our country.”

21-year-old Carli Batson poses with her Miss Cleveland sash before being crowned Miss North Carolina LISA BATSON LISA BATSON

https://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/article252424408.html