Holmdel Resident Crowned Miss America's Monmouth County Outstanding Teen

Jess D’Agostino, a resident of Holmdel, New Jersey, and an 8th grade student at The William R. Satz School, was crowned Miss Monmouth County’s Outstanding Teen in a pageant held on September 27 at The Women’s Club of Asbury Park.

To win the pageant, Jess, had to compete in four (4) challenging categories that included, a Private interview, talent, fitness and an on stage interview in an evening gown. She also took first place in the private interview portion of the contest. Jess entered the pageant with her platform “Reading is Succeeding” which focused on eliminating illiteracy in America.

The pageant is one of several throughout New Jersey that puts winners on the track for the future Miss New Jersey Outstanding Teen pageant, along the way to the ultimate dream of competing in the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Pageant. According to Jess “ I am so excited and grateful to have the amazing opportunity to represent my hometown, Monmouth County, in this upcoming Miss New Jersey Outstanding Ten Pageant. Not only has this given me the tools to be an advocate for my platform “Reading is Succeeding,” encouraging literacy throughout America, but I can now market the fantastic brand of the Miss America Outstanding Teen Organization. Thank you to all my family, friends, my pageant coach, Jackie Mercandetti, and everyone else sharing this exhilarating journey with me.”

A pageant winner, Jess has already started serving her community with a visit to a soup kitchen in Perth Amboy, where she distributed books to the children in attendance. On her calendar so far is an appearance on 10/23 at The Monmouth County Board of Realtors where she’ll be presenting a domestic violence shelter with a basket of children’s books, a role in an 11/5 patriotic show for Veterans where she’ll be reading selections from such famous American documents as The Constitution and The Bill of Rights and on 11/16, she’ll be at Holmdel’s Barnes & Noble to read princes stories to young children .