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Alexi Provost-Shean entered the Miss Oregon Outstanding Teen competition hoping to earn scholarship money for college and to promote community service. She not only did that, but surprised herself by winning. "You don't think you'll really win, but then they call the top five, you answer one more question and they call your name and you think, 'Oh, my gosh, I'm representing Oregon at Miss America," she said. "I'm excited and I feel so blessed. I can't wait to see where this journey takes me." Provost-Shean, a St. Mary's High School student, was crowned last week in Seaside at the Miss Oregon competitions, qualifying for Miss America's Outstanding Teen. Those who know her, however, were hardly surprised. A volunteer for the Children's Miracle Network since she was 10, the soon-to-be 17-year-old is on the honor roll and participates in sports at St. Mary's High. She chose her pageant platform, skin cancer, after facing a scary diagnosis last year. "I had a mole removed on my head last year and found out it was skin cancer, so I picked skin cancer awareness for my personal platform," Provost-Shean said. "I'm hoping to go out in the community and create awareness." Crowned Miss Rogue Valley Outstanding Teen in 2009, Provost-Shean said she realized recognition from pageant participation encouraged her to be more involved and improved the visibility of the causes she wanted to promote. "I won in 2009 and took a year off, but I had a lot of fun so I decided to try one more time, and I ended up winning," Provost-Shean said. "So far, I've won $4,000 for scholarships, so that should cover textbooks in college, which is excellent." Her connection with the Children's Miracle Network may give her a boost at the national level: The Miss America organization has chosen the charity as its national platform. Sue Mendenhall, program director for Children's Miracle Network at the Asante Foundation in Medford, said Provost-Shean was already the local Miracle Network's outstanding teen. "She's always been very willing to jump right into whatever anyone asks of her," Mendenhall said. "She was a junior auxiliary volunteer in the hospital, has helped with the balloon rally, radio-thon, golf tournaments, you name it. "She's always done whatever we have asked from her. You give her a job and she goes right at it. She's a great girl." After high school, Provost-Shean said, she hopes to major in biology or chemistry, with career possibilities including physical therapy and forensics. The Miss America Outstanding Teen pageant will be held Aug. 16-18 in Orlando, Fla. Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. Email her at [email protected]