First Ever Mini Miss St. Catherine Heritage Queen to Use Platform to Help Others

At just 10 years old, Yolanda Stephenson is the first Mini Miss St. Catherine Heritage Queen.

She tells JIS News that a wave of emotions swept over her the moment her name was announced as the Queen for the parish.

“I wasn’t expecting to be the winner. When it was time, my heart was out of my ribs, and it was all about the place. The other girls and I held our hands tight to hear who would be named the queen,” she recalls.

The recently crowned Mini Miss St. Catherine Heritage Queen, who is a student at Christel House Jamaica in St. Catherine, says she sees herself making a big impact with the new platform that has been given to her.

With a passion for caring and helping others, Yolanda will launch a project focused on supporting a Children’s Home within her parish.

“We are going to be donating some items to the Children’s Home, like school supplies, clothing, food items and more,” she says, adding that the donation will go a far way in assisting the persons within the Home.

She also informs that her desire to help is nothing new as she has always been providing a helping hand to those around her including her mother, classmates and friends.

The young queen, who speaks with passion and conviction, describes her experience in the competition as fun and empowering, noting that it taught her children can make an impactful and meaningful difference in society,

“I learnt how we as children can make a big difference in the world no matter how young we are. We can build confidence, we can show what it is like in the big world, how it is like for us to be role models and have a big vision in our life as young children,” she says.

Meanwhile, for Yolanda’s mother, Latoya Wolfe, watching her daughter on this journey has been rewarding, as Yolanda is now showing the very qualities, she had hoped the competition would unearth.

“My main focus was for her to have a good time and to build her confidence in all of this, because I realised that she is a shy person and I wanted her to believe in herself… to see herself more than just this shy and quiet little person and now she is more outspoken,” Ms. Wolfe says.

The proud mother tells JIS News that she was the one who initiated Yolanda’s journey in the competition, having reached out to the pageant’s Founding Director, Damion Duckett, after seeing the Mini Miss St. Ann Heritage Queen Competition, nearly a year before it officially expanded to other parishes.

Once registered, Ms. Wolfe was determined that her daughter would make the best of the opportunity and as such, she played a vital role in helping her prepare for the competition.

She indicates that her role was to ensure that Yolanda was always on time for her training sessions, whether conducted face-to-face or online and to make sure she was comfortable with the material, understood what she was learning and could effectively apply it.

“I told her, the fact that she and her fellow contestants were making history of being the first set of contestants to represent St. Catherine, that alone would make her a winner,” she adds.

Not only did Yolanda win the competition, she also walked away with several sectional prizes including, Most Culturally Aware, Most Poised, Highest Achiever, Most Punctual, Most Intelligent, Best Gown and the Best Jamaican Costume.

With the National Competition set for December and several parish competitions still to come, Yolanda is encouraging all contestants to enjoy the moment.

“I will encourage them to have fun, to be brave, build confidence and just know that you are strong…no matter what other people say, you are beautiful and smart just the way you are,” she says.

Additionally, Founder and Executive Director, Mini Miss Jamaica Heritage Queen, Damion Duckett tells JIS News that the initiative forms part of a broader national movement originally founded in St. Ann and has since expanded to include all parishes.

Designed to celebrate and preserve Jamaica’s rich heritage, the pageant engages young girls between the ages of 7 and 12 years in a development journey focused on national pride.

“The Mini Miss Jamaica Heritage Queen is the spitting image of the National Festival Queen competition, because it focuses on the culture, the arts, the intelligence, and the awareness of each individual,” says Mr. Duckett.