Out of her comfort zone

East Valley High School junior June Mazzone was crowned Miss Spokane Valley during a ceremony last weekend at University High School. She is joined by her court, Courtney Ramsey from University High School and Rebecca Crowder of East Valley High School.

Mazzone, 16, said she never expected to win and figured that she’d get first or second runner up at most. When she didn’t win one of those positions, she stopped listening for her name. She only realized she had won when she saw her family on their feet, clapping and cheering.

“I was so stunned,” she said. “I could not believe it.”

Mazzone, who calls herself shy and soft-spoken, said she wanted to get involved in the competition to get experience in public speaking.

“It was kind of exciting for me to just step outside of my comfort zone,” she said. She is involved in several groups at her school, including Future Business Leaders of America, Washington Drug Free Youth and the American Sign Language Club. Mazzone doesn’t know anyone who is deaf, but she chose to learn sign language as her foreign language because it sounded interesting.

“I just fell in love with it and I’m really good at it. I’ve been able to actually carry on a conversation, so it’s really cool,” she said.

She also performs as an alto in the school’s advanced choir.

The annual Miss Spokane Valley Ambassador competition is sponsored by the Spokane Valley