Miss America visits her former school, Friedburg Elementary

By Sharon Myers / The Dispatch

Posted Nov 5, 2018 at 2:19 PM   Updated Nov 5, 2018 at 2:21 PM

Students and teachers at Friedburg Elementary School received a special visit Monday morning from the reigning Miss America, who is also a former student at the school.

Nia Franklin, who attended Friedburg through fifth grade, said she wanted to return to the school to encourage the students to understand anyone can be successful if they get their education, to be kind to others and to persevere in their dreams.

She said she also wants to return all the support she received when she was a student at the school.

“This was the school I graduated from in fifth grade. I had so many great educators,” Franklin said. “It is so wonderful to be back; it is so wonderful to remember where I came from. It is so important to me to remember that foundation and to let others know that you can do anything you want to, no matter if you come from a small town.”

Franklin is a graduate of North Davidson High School. She received a degree in music composition from East Carolina University and a master’s degree in music composition at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. After graduating from the School of the Arts, Franklin was awarded a Kenan Fellowship at New York’s Lincoln Center Education and moved to New York City. She currently resides in Brooklyn.

She previously stated she began entering pageants to help pay for her college education after her father was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer. She donated stem cells for his treatment.

Franklin was the runner-up in the Miss Thomasville pageant in 2016 and competed in the Miss North Carolina pageant the same year. She was crowned Miss Five Boroughs and then went on to win Miss New York 2018.

Franklin said she felt nostalgic returning to her former school. She especially enjoyed singing part of one of the songs she performed in a school talent show when she was a student.

“It was so sentimental singing ‘The Old Rugged Cross,’ ” Franklin said. “That was one of my final years here in the talent show, and it means so much to be to be able to come back and sing that song for the kids. I had memories when I was walking down the halls of being in the YMCA after-school program, seeing one of the actual classrooms that I was in. So I have just really fond memories “

During her address to the Friedburg Elementary students, Franklin used the school mascot – a falcon – and adopted the school motto, SOAR, to encourage the students to be smart, organized, accountable and respectful.

“To soar means the ability for strong birds to fly high enough so they can catch the wind current under their wings and float on those currents for hundreds of miles without having to flap their wings once,” Franklin said. “But falcons are smart because they put in the work so that they can soar. As falcons, you must be smart, organized, accountable and respectful in order to soar. So my fellow falcons, be your best at everything and you will soar.”

Marivee Miles, principal at Friedburg Elementary School, said it was an honor to have the reigning Miss America and former student speak to the students and be a role model for them.

“I think that it lets everybody know that you can dream big, even when you are young and just entering talent contests … then you end up as Miss America,” Miles said.

Miles said she was especially touched that Franklin took the time to take a photo with a student who is facing personal difficulties. She also said she likes the fact she also spoke about her former classmates and teachers.

“It just let you know that she didn’t forget; she didn’t forget her roots and where she came from,” Miles said. “She also talked about how you don’t have to be Miss America to be successful, you can be successful in other ways.”

Margo Pratkowski, a first-grader at Friedburg Elementary, said she enjoyed getting to hear from someone who was a former student who is now Miss America.

“It was good,” Margo said. “I liked her singing and what she said. She’s pretty, too.”

http://www.the-dispatch.com/news/20181105/miss-america-visits-her-former-school-friedburg-elementary