Betsy Kline
Castlegar News
A young Castlegar woman is running for a spot on the 2015 BC Ambassador team. Rachael TeBulte, the 2014 Miss Castlegar Princess, is hard at work preparing for the contest and working on fundraising for the program.
The BC Ambassador program is open to any young man or woman age 17 to 24, who has previously held an ambassador/royal title in BC.
Each year, three members are chosen to represent the youth of our province. As part of their duties, they travel to promote the program’s mandate of education, motivation, and self-esteem.
The program seeks to nurture future leaders, promote and assist with the expenses of post-secondary education and forge links of friendship and understanding throughout BC communities.
The candidates are judged on their knowledge of BC, which includes a three-hour exam plus an essay. They must also show knowledge of their own community through a display table and speech.
Judging on presentation skills and public speaking is done through a second speech on a topic of their choice along with personal interviews with the judges and impromptu questions the evening of the pageant.
TeBulte was raised in Castlegar and will soon be a Stanley Humphries grad. Along with all of the work necessary to complete her Grade 12 year, she also works as a lifeguard at the Castlegar Community Complex.
She explained why she decided to enter the program: “I gained so much from being Castlegar princess, including public speaking and being able to talk to people that I knew there was more I could get from the BC Ambassador program.”
The pageant takes place August 15-16 in Merritt, but TeBulte will need to be there a week ahead of time to complete all of the elements.
TeBulte plans to go to Selkirk College in the fall and wants to become a nurse. The scholarship prizes associated with the program would be a great help towards reaching her goals.
The odds are in her favour, in past years three other Kootenay girls have competed for a place on the team and all three have won, including Castlegar’s Mariah Morris in 2012. Cheyanne Friess of Trail is one of the current ambassadors.
Online voting for a People’s Choice category will begin soon. For updated information or to help with the fundraising portion check out the Facebook page Rachael TeBulte: British Columbia Ambassador Candidate 2015.