Bryce Couch
The Miss Southlake Scholarship Organization has officially crowned its newest Miss Southlake and Miss Southlake Outstanding Teen for 2020. Those ladies are Collin College sophomore Bryton Bonacquisti and The Colony High School junior Laurel Jones.
The Miss Southlake 2020 competition included eight contestants while the Miss Southlake Outstanding Teen 2020 competition featured six women. The Miss Southlake competition included an on-stage interview, where candidates publicly answered personal questions about themselves, and an evening wear portion where they show off their wardrobe and the Miss Southlake Outstanding Teen competition entailed an evening gown portion and a lifestyle and fitness competition. Both competitions featured a 90-second talent performance that showed off the candidate’s unique abilities.
Executive director DaNae Couch Lowe says the competition was so successful they actually sold out of their original 184 seat theater and had to add extra chairs to accommodate their guests.
“Women’s voices are being heard like never before,” Danae includes in the 2020 Miss Southlake competition guide. “We want to build on that movement by developing our representative’s advocacy skills and providing opportunities for her to advocate for her own causes.”
Bryton won the Miss Southlake 2020 title and the $1,000 prize along with the overall talent award for her ventriloquism routine. Her social impact initiative was Heart of the Issue: Life Without Limits, which addresses bullying and anxiety.
Bryce Couch
Laurel, meanwhile, won Miss Southlake Outstanding Teen and a $750 cash reward. She also took home several other recognitions, including the Teen Miss Congeniality award, overall evening wear and on-stage question and overall talent.
“I was so surprised and honored when they announced me as the new Miss Southlake's Outstanding Teen!” Laurel expresses. “The next morning I got to sleep in, and once I woke up I realized that it wasn't all a dream and I really was Miss Southlake's Outstanding Teen 2019.”
Laurel says she’s always dreamed of competing on the Miss Texas stage ever since she was crowned as a Lonestar Princess when she was six years old. She shared that in middle school, she struggled a lot with her self image and felt very alone in the world.
Bryce Couch
She says her experiences inspired her social impact initiative Behind the S.A.S.H. She says it was a double meaning acronym, with the first meaning standing for suicidal thoughts, anxiety and self-harm, while the second meaning stood for speak out, finding an active support system, share your talents and passions and help everyone.
“What really made me want to participate is the large amount of people I am able to share my message of Behind the S.A.S.H. with,” she says. “It is such a relevant and real problem in today’s youth and it needs to be talked about so we can decrease the number of people feeling that way. Since I have been there at that low point, I am able to relate, share my story and help get people the resources they need in order to get better and through that hard time.”
Bryce Couch
As Miss Southlake and Outstanding Teen 2020, Bryton and Laurel will appear throughout the city of Southlake and surrounding areas to make appearances on behalf of the Miss Southlake Scholarship Organization, as well as advocate for their social initiatives.
“By partnering with the Southlake local government and other local organizations, we can show our community the power of our program and our women,” DaNae remarks.