News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5056 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE NOVEMBER 12, 2008

Keegan Westberry of Brunswick was crowned Ms. ABAC 2009 on Nov. 11 at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

BRUNSWICK STUDENT CROWNED MS. ABAC 2009

TIFTON - Keegan Westberry, a freshman from Brunswick, won the title in the 40th annual Ms. ABAC competition on Tuesday night at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Sponsored by the men's tennis team, Westberry is a Brunswick High School graduate who is an early childhood education major. She is the daughter of Shannon and Mike Westberry from Brunswick.

Other finalists were Melissa McGill, a sophomore fashion merchandising major from Tifton, first runner-up; Kristy Card, a pre-medicine major from Cordele, second runner-up; Jacklyn Kerch, an animal science major from Stone Mountain, third runner-up, and Jessica Padgett, an agricultural communications major from Sylvester, fourth runner-up.

McGill won the interview competition, Padgett won the essay competition, and Kristen Shipps, an agricultural communications major from Nokomis, Fla., won the contestants' award. The contest was sponsored by the Student Government Association.

Westberry admits she knew absolutely nothing about ABAC until she took a personality test in her high school counselor’s office. The results of that test pointed her in the direction of ABAC.

“I like the community atmosphere at ABAC,” Westberry said. “I loved the campus the first time I saw it. It made me feel like I was at home.

“The best thing about being at ABAC is that I can be myself. I don’t feel like I have to belong to any certain group. Being a student here has taught me a lot about myself.”

Westberry lives at the brand new $17 million ABAC Lakeside complex. Ironically her roommate, Kristy Card, finished as the second runner-up in the Ms. ABAC event.

“We didn’t even know each other until two weeks before school started, and now we’re the best of friends,” Westberry said. “It is incredible the way that has worked out.”

The 5-foot hazel-eyed blonde plans to be at ABAC for all four years of her college career through the joint early childhood education program between ABAC and Georgia Southwestern. Students in the program take all their classes necessary for a bachelor’s degree without ever leaving the ABAC campus.

“I want to teach elementary school kids, preferably first graders,” Westberry said. “My mother runs a child care center in Brunswick so I have always been around small children.”

Westberry takes her love for children on the road for two weeks each summer when she accompanies members of her church, Blythe Island Baptist, to Honduras.

“We build houses, we fix houses, and we have a good time there,” Westberry said. “It’s a big spot in my heart, serving the Lord in this way. I’m looking forward to going back.”

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