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Heather Leigh Whitestone McCallum (born February 24, 1973 in Dothan, Alabama) is a former beauty queen who was the first deaf Miss America title holder, having lost most of her hearing at age 18 months. *Early life * In fourth grade, Heather learned about the story of a young woman from Alabama who would forever change her life — Helen Keller. Keller became her role model. She was unable to keep up with her classwork and began to fall behind her peers. She asked her family to send her to a special school that would enable her to catch up with other students in her class. While at the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, Missouri, she learned two grade levels per year.〔Kanwar, Tanuja. ("Former pageant winners send congratulations to student" ), ''Gadsden Times'', September 18, 1994. Accessed July 18, 2010.〕 After three years, she caught up with her peers and returned to Alabama to graduate from public high school with a 3.6 grade point average (GPA). She moved to Birmingham at age sixteen, following her parents' divorce. She attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts for a year and graduated from Berry High School (now Hoover High School) in 1991. Her passion was ballet and because of her deafness, she had spent most of her time developing her ballet skills. She then went on to study at Jacksonville State University. ==Pageant record== Heather first participated in Shelby County Junior Miss program. While not actually a beauty pageant, the experience gave her the confidence to begin entering pageants. Her first year in the Miss America system, she won the Miss Jacksonville State University title, and went on to be Miss Alabama.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Miss Alabama ">title=Miss Alabama History )〕 She stood next to Miss Virginia (Culen Johnson) in the finals of the Miss America 1995 pageant. When the first runner-up was announced, she could not hear the host Regis Philbin but could read his lips. Surprised, she looked to her fellow contestant for confirmation that she had won. As Miss America, she showcased her S.T.A.R.S. program around the country. S.T.A.R.S. stands for "Success Through Action and Realization of your dreams." It has five points which are: positive attitude, belief in a dream, the willingness to work hard, facing obstacles, and building a strong support team. She also served as an executive member on the President's Committee on Employment of People Disabilities. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Heather Whitestone」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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