For Angela Agee, the Overland High School senior crowned queen of the 2009 Sigma Pearls Cotillion, being a debutante involved much more than a quick curtsy followed by an evening of dining and dancing in a poufy white ballgown.
It was a fairy-tale occasion, to be sure, but the months of preparation leading up to the big night allowed her to engage in activities ranging from service projects to etiquette classes — “opportunities that a lot of girls in my school didn’t have,” she said. “I gained so much from the whole experience.”
Agee, whose dream of becoming a psychiatrist was solidified after completing a mission to Romania with Mile High Ministries, was one of nine high-achieving teens presented by Theta Zeta Sigma chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority.
Kathy Callum chaired the black- tie ceremony conducted last Sunday at the Renaissance Denver Hotel; Angela Davis-Robertson, parent/community involvement coordinator at Montbello High School, was the commentator. Ollie Smith is the chapter president.
Also making their debuts were East High School seniors Kierra Cortez-Ray, Le’Ausha Cunningham, Alexandria Pierce and Hanifah Turner; Vanessa Emerson of Aurora Central High School; Tori Hall (Rangeview); Aspen Pinto (Overland); and Alexis Washington of Denver School of Science and Technology.
Callum challenged the debutantes to “Go forth and soar. Dream big dreams and be lifelong learners. We know you are beautiful both inside and out, and we are counting on you to make your lives meaningful.”
The debs already are on track.
Hanifah Turner and Vanessa Emerson, for example, have dreams of Olympic gold. Turner is ranked seventh in the state in shot put and will continue with the sport after enrolling at Tuskegee University this fall. “Two more feet and I can qualify for the Olympics,” she said. “Of course I’m going to go for it!” Emerson, Aurora Central’s student body president, is ranked second in the state in the sprint medley; she also makes strong showings in the 300 hurdles, open 400-meter and the 4 x 2 relay. She’ll attend Colorado State University as a liberal arts major and track-and-field athlete.
Entrepreneurship has been a part of Alexandria Pierce’s life since she was 10. That’s when she started Bags by Alex P, the label for her hand-sewn denim purses, and Pumpkin, a clothing line.
Tori Hall, who had been a cheerleader and junior class president at Rangeview, appreciates how the debutante service projects introduced her to causes and people. “On Martin Luther King Day, we helped Volunteers of America serve dinner to the homeless; I really got a lot out of that.” Making new friends was key for Aspen Pinto and Alexis Washington. “We’re all different, so being able to come together and bond in such a positive setting was wonderful,” Pinto said.
All that’s left, Kierra Cortez-Ray concluded, is “For us to go in there, be introduced as women and then go on to bigger and better things.”
Indeed.
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@ ; also,
