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Health & Fitness

Rhode Island College's Kelsey Fournier Competes for Miss America

Kelsey Fournier, a native of Pawtucket, crowned Miss Rhode Island 2012, is looking for support from the community to get the votes she needs to become a finalist in the 2013 Miss America Competition.

Rhode Island College’s own Kelsey Fournier, crowned Miss Rhode Island, is looking for support from the community to get the votes she needs to become a finalist in the 2013 Miss America Competition.

The 23-year-old Pawtucket native had never entered a pageant prior to the Miss Rhode Island Scholarship Pageant. She entered, she said, in order to earn a scholarship to graduate school. But the title doesn’t automatically qualify her for the Miss America Competition. She needs the community’s votes for a chance at that crown.

As an undergraduate at Rhode Island College, majoring in health education, with a concentration in community health, Fournier’s academic prowess placed her on the dean’s list for four years. She graduated in 2012 cum laude and was a Presidential Scholar. In May 2012 she also earned the title of Miss Rhode Island.

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In her current run for Miss America, she must establish a “social platform” – an issue she considers important – and discuss the issue during the preliminary competition. Fournier based her platform on what she learned at RIC – fitness and health education.

“My hope, as Miss America, is to work nationally with Let’s Move, the childhood obesity prevention initiative by First Lady Michelle Obama, to help lay the foundation for a healthier America,” she said.

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“Giving back is so important to me," she added, "and who is more influential, who reaches more people, particularly young people, than Miss America.”

To cast a vote, go to

http://www.missamerica.org/videocontest/contestants/rhode-island.aspx

There is a limit of one vote per person via any Web-enabled device. Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. PST on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013The Miss America Pageant will be aired on Jan. 12 on ABC.

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