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By Brinda Fuller Willis, PhD
Jackson Advocate Contributing Writer
The Crown Plaza Hotel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was the site where little Aliyah Sims was crowned the 2021 Miss Preteen Mississippi on August 2.
Sims is a 12-year-old from Tupelo, Mississippi, and her reign is for one year that ends in August 2022. However, she is slated to compete in the National Miss Preteen pageant in November of 2021 that will be held in Orlando, Florida.
Sims said, “I am looking forward to going to Orlando and meeting all the girls from other states.”
She is a 7th grader, standing 5 ft. tall, at Tupelo Middle School where she is the consummate volunteer in her community. Sims was recommended by an anonymous person to become a participant in the pageant. She is a high scholar and at present she is an A student and her favorite subject is mathematics. She is a member of the Challenge Choir and Leadership Club.
Much of Sims’s time is in numerous extracurricular activities that include modern dance and helping people through the “Wear It Well” program. The “Wear It Well” program’s motto is “Enhancing Lives by Renewing the Mind, Body and Soul” and is based in Tupelo located in the Charles and Ruth Morris Home.
In January of 2021, Sims was the recipient of the Global Youth Service Day Grant ($300) that was sponsored by “Black Girls Rock, Inc.” Sims says, “I was especially grateful to receive the Global Youth Service Day Grant because it allows me to continue my community work projects.” The grant stipulated that she could use the funds to pick any organization to give back to her community and Sims provided backpacks to kids in her hometown of Tupelo.
Sims is supported by her parents Charles and Tonya Sims of Tupelo, and she is a lifetime member of Victory Temple Church where she is a member of “Destined to Dance” and “Royalettes Dance Team.” Additionally, she was the 2017 National Miss Mississippi Jr. Preteen Queen.
Sims says, “One of my goals is to meet Asya Branch, the reigning Miss USA because she was Miss Mississippi and because she is from Mississippi.”