Junior Orange Bowl 2012-2013 Royal Court

The 2012-2013 Junior Orange Bowl Royal Court Queen and Princesses have been working hard to serve the South Florida Community since being crowned in November. The first event on the new Royal Court’s calendar was volunteering at the annual Junior Orange Bowl Sports Ability Games, a three-day series of athletic events for physically challenged youths. The Royal Court was also invited on stage with Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason at the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony in downtown Coral Gables.

Each year the Royal Court appears at various award ceremonies and serves as goodwill ambassadors to all the youths participating in the 2012-2013 Junior Orange Bowl festival of events. The Royal Court’s duties culminate at the annual Junior Orange Bowl Parade, where the winners will ride on a float through the streets of Downtown Coral Gables on Sunday, December 30, 2012.

This year’s Royal Court final took place at the Rebeca Sosa Theater in Miami Springs. The Queen and Princesses were chosen from over 20 finalists who made it through one of four preliminary selections. The finalists were judged on a variety of different aspects such as personality, academics, community service, and poise.

One queen and two princesses were crowned for this year’s Royal Court. Aria Armstead, an 8^th grader at Lexington Middle School, was crowned as this year’s Royal Court Queen.  Sophia Pereira, a student at Leewood Middle School, and Maya Elias, a student at Terra Environmental Research Institute were crowned as the two Princesses to make up this year’s Royal Court.

Also honored were Ashley Rey, as Alternate Princess, Skyler Odin as Miss Congeniality, and Camilia Romero as Miss New Adventures.

“We are very proud and honored to have this year’s Royal Court represent the Junior Orange Bowl and all of its youth participants”, says Royal Court chair Isa Goenaga. “Each of the selected girls exemplifies all of the qualities on which this contest was founded. They each are very good students and have a passion for community service that matches the mission of the Junior Orange Bowl”.

Many of the young ladies who participate in the Royal Court Final end up discovering their passions in life and go on to pursue them, becoming prominent figures in society. The Junior Orange Bowl hopes to encourage the young ladies to be future leaders in the community and open the doors to a brighter future. Past winners have become successful businesswomen as well as influential community leaders and there is no doubt that this year’s Queen, Aria Armstead and Princesses Sophia Periera and Maya Eliaswill continue that tradition.