(NOTE: 2006 Kennedy High School graduate Da'Stanza Murphy was recently named the winner of the National Ms. Captivating Pageant. Writer Sue Suchyta featured Murphy in the following story written for The News-Herald Newspapers.)
A
local pageant queen hopes to hold court with local girls to help them discover
their inner beauty, build their self-esteem and introduce them to the power of
positive thinking.
As
the newly crowned National Ms. Captivating 2018 pageant winner, Da’Stanza Murphy
of Taylor hopes to increase her outreach with area girls through her personal
community service platform of “image inspiration through education.”
As
part of her outreach she hopes to work with Girl Scout troops, since she was
positively influenced by her years in Scouting.
A
2006 graduate of Taylor Kennedy High School, Murphy has beauty and brains: she
earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism and a Master’s degree
in public relations and organizational communications from Wayne State
University, and is currently an information officer for WSU’s College of Fine,
Performing and Communication Arts.
In
addition to her 15 years of pageant experience, she also is a former dance
student and instructor at Taylor Dance Program under the direction of Joy
Squire, and is a superior-rated mezzo-soprano Italian opera singer.
Murphy
entered the world of pageants on her own volition, and found the experience
helped her to become confident and outgoing.
“It
was a way for me to make friends, it was a way for me to be a part of something
bigger and I liked being on stage,” she said.
Murphy
said the pageantry circuit also introduced her to community service.
“The
aspect that really makes one pageant different from another is having a
community service platform,” she said. “My community service platform for years
has been mentoring younger girls, and specifically I do a mentoring program
called ‘Mentoring a Younger Me,’ that focuses on young girls in the sixth to
eighth grade range.”
Murphy
said middle school-age girls are going through a challenging phase during which
they are transitioning and are vulnerable.
“I
want them to know that somebody is there for you,” she said. “I get it, I
remember what it is like to be going through puberty. I want to be that role
model.”
As
a former Scout, she said she likes to team up with Girl Scout troops.
“What
they stand for — that girl power, supporting your sister, having a positive
mindset, positive feedback — that is what I try to instill in the girls that I
talk to,” she said.
Murphy
said she connects with individual Girl Scout troops in the Downriver community
and in other areas through the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan Council.
She
has a variety of activities she uses, including what she calls “I am” boards, where
each girl would pick five words to describe herself, which she said is a great
activity for finding positive self-esteem building adjectives. Then she pairs
each participant with a peer and has them pick five words to describe them. She
has the girls share the words, and how it makes them feel.
“It
really reinforces that positive mindset, positive words, especially in a day
and age when bullying is on some other type of planet with social media and
technology,” Murphy said.
In
addition to Girl Scout troops, Murphy goes to career days and other youth
events.
Basic
etiquette and how to deal with bullying behavior are other topics she covers.
“They
get to take home confidence, they get to take home encouragement, and they get
to take home those (I am) boards,” she said. “I always say, ‘This may sound
cheesy, but read this when you don’t feel good.’”
Murphy
said she tries to impart the importance of being positive for their own sake
and for others.
“They
are going to be taking care of me someday, so I want to be sure our youth is
strong,” she said.
