Lauren Bradford of Gulf Shores named Miss Alabama Outstanding Teen

Lauren Bradford of Gulf Shores named Miss Alabama Outstanding Teen
Lauren Bradford, a 17-yearold senior at Gulf Shores High School, is Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen 2017. During the talent portion of the competition, she performed a violin piece, “Orange Blossom Special.”
Miss Bradford succeeds Jessica Baeder, who was crowned Miss America’s Outstanding Teen 2017 in Orlando on July 29. Lauren will represent Alabama with the other 50 Miss America’s Outstanding Teen contestants at the Miss America Pageant September 6-10 in Atlantic City.
Ranked first in her class academically with a 4.35 weighted GPA and a 34 composite ACT score, She has earned all A’s throughout her academic career while participating in the GSHS advanced placement curriculum. She is an officer in the National Honor Society and was a member of the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) where she was awarded Highest GPA and Most Distinguished Cadet.
Lauren is founder and president of Alpha & Omega Club, serves as GSHS representative of the Coastal Alabama Business Chamber, and is president of The Health Science Club for Future Healthcare Professionals. Miss Bradford is a member of the Youth Leadership Team at Gulf Shores United Methodist Church. She is a Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Ambassador and is First Chair of the Eastern Shore Symphony Orchestra and is First Violinist of the Baldwin County Youth Orchestra. She was crowned Miss Gulf Shores High School 2015.
Miss Bradford was the overall winner of the GoDaddy Bowl’sNational Writing Competition. She is an aspiring author of a science fiction novel, and was chosen as
the 2017 cover model for statewide Alabama Weddings Magazine.
Miss Bradford plans to utilize the $59,000 in cash and inkind scholarships to obtain a medical degree specializing in neuroscience. The Miss America Foundation is ranked by TheBestColleges.org as the biggest scholarship provider in the world.
Lauren was recipient of the Community Service Award at the 2017 Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen Pageant for her work with her platform, The Digital Diet Plan: Five Easy Steps to Find and Maintain Technological Balance. “Every year billions of dollars are spent by Americans on health,” she says. “The two main areas of focus are on prevention and correction. As we have become more educated over the years we have learned that to keep our bodies functioning optimally, we must provide solid nutrition and avoid anything that is considered toxic by our bodies.
“We fight the daily struggle to be consistent so we can maintain good health and beat the odds of the widespread health problems that plague our country,” she added.
Lauren says as aware as we are of the need to protect our bodies, we have been caught off guard by the almost epidemic concerns of how the overuse of technology is affecting every aspect of our lives: physical health, emotional well-being, social relationships and overall productivity. She says the challenges of balancing our technological usage is a daily reality for people of all ages. She has been an activist for her platform and has spoken about her campaign throughout the Gulf Shores community, addressing how technology directly affects teens’ lives. She has created a website in an effort to educate teens and others about the harmful consequences of overuse and offers practical steps to find a balance of use so that people can gain and maintain overall health and well-being.
“I am committed to bringing awareness and practical help to both teens and adults in order to offset the negative effects of technology upon the lives of individuals and our culture at large,” she says. “It is a relevant issue especially facing teens today,” she said.
The Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen Pageant is the only affiliate of the Miss Alabama Pageant, Inc. The Miss America Organization is the nation’s leading advocate for women’s education and the largest provider of scholarship assistance to young women in the United States, awarding millions of dollars annually. The Miss America Organization is comprised of 51 licensed organizations, including all 50 states, and Washington, D.C. Miss America contestants contribute tens of thousands of community service hours annually and have raised over $16 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Miss America scholarships since 2007. (Credit: Dragonfly Photography)