Six rising high school seniors in Chilton County will participate in the 2013 Distinguished Young Women Program on Saturday, July 14.

The contestants will compete for scholarship money and the chance to be the program’s local representative for a year.

Formerly America’s Junior Miss, DYW is a national scholarship program – held for more than 50 years – that fosters scholastics, physical fitness, leadership, self-expression and communication skills in high school girls.

“We are definitely growing and re-sculpting,” said Leslee Deavers, Chilton County chairwoman of DYW. “It is an awesome opportunity that the girls can carry on. They can get recognition at different colleges.”

DYW has provided more than $92 million in cash scholarships, with more than 700,000 young women participating over the years.

Brooke Clark of Clanton served as the 2012 Distinguished Young Woman of Chilton County.

Clark earned three separate awards through the program and accumulated $1,500 in scholarships, as well as the opportunity to advance to the next level of competition.

Each component of DYW is funded by sponsors and is run by a group of volunteers.

In addition, the local chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma teacher society is collecting donations on behalf of the contestants.

The winner of this year’s competition will receive $1,000 in scholarship money to the school of her choice.

The competition will also include a first runner-up, second runner-up, physical fitness winner, scholastic winner, interview winner and self-expression winner.

“It’s not all a beauty thing,” Deavers said. “It is certainly a program.”

The program will be held at the Chilton County High School Auditorium at 6 p.m. Admission is $5 at the door.

Girls who will be eligible for next year’s competition and are interested in participating can register online.

For more information about Distinguished Young Women of Chilton County, contact Leslee Deavers at (205) 755-8825, email her at chilton@distinguishedyw.org or visit distinguishedyw.org.