Remarkable girl

Many girls dream of someday becoming Miss America. Tori Lynn Johnson, 16, has taken a step toward that dream.

On Jan. 12, Johnson was crowned Miss Spokane’s Outstanding Teen.

The program, part of the Miss America Pageant, is a scholarship program for girls ages 13 to 17.

Johnson and four other girls were judged in athletic, casual and evening wear, and talent categories, answered two on-stage questions and talked about the platform or social issue of their choice.

When Johnson was 12, her dad, a flight engineer for the Air Force, died while on a mission to Puerto Rico. In the time since, Johnson has been involved in the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors for Youth.

The group is a network of family members who have lost loved ones in service to their country. Each surviving family member can contact others who have gone through this pain and find that they don’t have to go through their grief alone.

Johnson wants to raise awareness of the TAPS program and build up the youth network so kids who have either lost a parent or have a parent serving overseas have someone to talk to about what they are going through.

Johnson has attended the Good Grief Camp for Young Survivors, part of TAPS, in Washington, D.C., on Memorial Day weekend for a number of years.

But this year she’ll miss the camp, since she will be in Auburn, Wash., competing at the state level for Miss Washington’s Outstanding Teen. The state competition is similar to the local competition, but there is no casual wear competition, and 10 percent of competitors’ scores will depend on their grade-point average.

A junior at Ferris High School, Johnson is involved in typical teen activities. She’s a cheerleader, takes both regular and advanced placement classes, is an honor student, is learning how to knit, loves crafts and likes to bake for her friends.

“I make pretty good cookies,” she said. Her specialty is sugar cookies.

She plans on taking Running Start classes next year to shorten her time in college, attending either the University of Idaho or Washington State University. She wants to get a degree in elementary education.

“I want to stay in this area,” she said. “I love Spokane.”

The third-year French student would also like to travel to France.

Her stepdad, Lee Becker, is new to the pageant scene and was impressed with how hard the contestants worked.

“The five entrants were all phenomenal,” he said. He also was amazed at all the preparation the girls did for the pageant.

He and Johnson’s mother, Claudette Johnson Becker, are both very proud.

The runners-up of the competition were first runner up Laine Hamacher, a sophomore at Lewis and Clark High School, McKenzi Novell, also a sophomore at Lewis and Clark, Chloe Crittenden, a sophomore at Mead High School, and Ann Stephenson, an eighth-grader at Northwood Junior High.

Johnson won a $500 scholarship savings bond, entry fees and expenses to the state competition, and services from the Glen Dow Academy and Oz Fitness.