EVHS junior Samantha Gilson busy in and out of school

Samantha Gilson has her sights set on a crown.

The East Valley High School junior was chosen as Miss Spokane Teen USA, after an application process from Pageants Northwest. When she heard about the pageant at school in the spring of her sophomore year, she submitted her photo and pageant requirements immediately. “It’s always been a childhood dream,” she said.

Since her freshman year, Gilson wanted to be a part of East Valley’s Homecoming royalty. As a sophomore, she made the top three in the homecoming court, and got her first taste of wearing a sash and waving to a crowd. She knew it wasn’t going to end with school dances and pursued the pageant. Once she was selected, Gilson wore her sash proudly and enjoyed her duties as Miss Spokane Teen USA.

But, Gilson isn’t just a pretty face. She maintains straight-A’s, ran varsity track and varsity cross country as a freshman and sophomore, and is the ASB junior inner-high representative.

In her ASB position, she set up the Washington Association of Student Council camp. She also put together an assembly to have Students Against Drunk Driving come to East Valley, and has been involved in a number of Washington Drug-Free Youth activities. “I like being in all of the clubs. That’s fun. It’s good to know you’re making a difference,” Gilson said.

When she’s not at school or spending time on extracurricular activities, Gilson enjoys riding her four-wheeler and snowmobile. She also has modeled in local fashion shows.

She works at the Courchaine Dairy on the weekend, milking cows and feeding calves.

After graduation, she would like to attend the University of Idaho to study mechanical engineering.

“I really want to work on snowmobiles and make them more economically efficient so that they run cleaner,” she said. She also said she would like to live in Montana. “If I can’t work on snowmobiles, I could work in mines. There are a lot of mines in Montana.”

In October, Gilson went to Seattle to compete in the Miss Washington Teen USA pageant against 23 other girls. The pageant included swimsuit and evening gown competitions, along with one-on-one interviews with pageant judges. Gilson placed 11th. “I liked meeting all of the girls and making new friends. It was a lot of fun and I’d like to try it again,” she said.