GRHS student named Distinguished Young Woman of Wyoming 2024

Hannah Skinner, a senior at Green River High School, was recently named the Distinguished Young Woman of Wyoming for the class of 2024.

"The main purpose was to get scholarships and help build yourself along the way," Skinner explained of participating in the Distinguished Young Woman program.

Skinner was one of three Wyoming seniors who took part in the state-wide scholarship program for high school girls, which culminated in a competition hosted by Green River High School on October 20 and 21. Skinner competed alongside Lydia Westenskow and Jennavieve Young of Star Valley. Participants were evaluated in the categories of Scholastics, Interview, Talent, Fitness and Self-Expression.

While each of the competitors received different recognitions, Skinner was the overall winner and received the Maryalice Gulino SPARKLE Award as well as recognition in the areas of Fitness, Talent and Interview. She also received $2,300 in cash scholarships.

When it came to the different areas of the competition, Skinner had areas she felt strong in as well as areas that took more work.

"The one I worked the most on was fitness," Skinner said.

The fitness category involved all of the participants doing a choreographed performance they had learned, similar to a dance performance but with more fitness aspects, Skinner explained. They had parts they did together, as well as solo sections.

"I put so much work into that, trying to remember the counts, the beats, everything," Skinner said.

Another area that required a lot of work was Self-Expression, where Skinner had to talk about the concept "do what has to be done," and struggled with coming up with things to say.

"That was the one I was most worried about," she admitted.

But when it came to Interview and Talent, Skinner felt more comfortable.

For the Talent section, Skinner was able to perform a song from "The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical," which she starred in at GRHS in the spring. Since it hadn't been too long since the performance, she felt confident about details like blocking and the song itself.

As for the Interview section, Skinner had to answer questions from five judges, but she said they were nice and made her feel welcome.

"I felt really confident with what I did," Skinner said.

Participating in the program also helped Skinner gain confidence in her performance and communication skills in general, which will help her as she goes into the future.

"The biggest thing was just to not be scared of talking," Skinner said of the lessons she learned from the program. She shared that she struggles with social anxiety, so communication can be difficult. "It took a lot out of me, but actually it made me feel a lot better because I said what I wanted to say."

The program also helped her work on performance, which is something she's been doing a long time but wants to keep getting better at and even studying in college.

"I'm thinking of going into musical theater because I have been doing it since I was a kid and I love it," Skinner explained. She added that having chances to be on stage and work on skills like public speaking have helped her "make progress with actually being able to perform in the way I want to."

The Distinguished Young Woman Program will continue to give Skinner opportunities to work on her communication and performance skills as she represents Wyoming at various public events over the next year. She will also have the opportunity to travel to Mobile, Alabama to compete in the 67th National Finals in June 2024. Along with 49 other representatives from across the country, she will participate in personal development activities and community service projects before competing for the opportunity to become the Distinguished Young Woman of America for 2024.

The goal of the Distinguished Young Woman Program is to spread the message of "Be Your Best Self" by encouraging self-esteem and excellence in all young people through its five principles: Be Healthy, Be Involved, Be Studious, Be Ambitious and Be Responsible.

Hannah Skinner is the daughter of Bradlee and Melissa Skinner and the sister of Emmalee Skinner, who was named Distinguished Young Woman of Wyoming 2021.