The reigning Miss North Carolina, Taylor Loyd, was a guest speaker for the TruthGirlz group (www.TruthGirlz.org) at North Iredell Middle School on Tuesday.
TruthGirlz is a mentoring group that promotes goal setting, healthy relationship boundaries, communication skills, how to process complex feelings, and how to overcome teenage challenges.
Loyd spoke to the girls about her inspiration for her nonprofit: Healing Hearts Through the Arts, 501©(3), and her Community Service Initiative: The Arts Connection.
She was inspired to create her nonprofit following the tragedy her family faced in 2009. Her brother Preston was involved in an accident that resulted in months of recovery at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.
Loyd speaks to schools and civic groups about arts accessibility, advocacy, and elevating the arts in our communities.
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As a component of this, she spoke to the TruthGirlz group about using music, theatre, and the arts as a tool for mental well-being. She shared her own experiences of turning to the arts as a source of comfort during the difficult months of dealing with her brother’s prolonged recovery. She also led them in a discussion about poise, confidence, and how to express your inner personality through your personal style.
Loyd, 22, is a lifelong resident of Iredell County and is currently a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
She will graduate in December with double degrees in psychology and music (with a concentration in vocal performance).
As a classically trained opera singer, her career ambition is to attend graduate school for music/vocal performance.
She is a 2019 magna cum laude graduate of the Career Academy and Technical School’s iAcademy in Troutman.
At the Miss North Carolina competition this past June, she was awarded $26,000 in scholarship money that she will use to further her education.
At the state competition, she was named the winner of the preliminary talent competition, the preliminary evening gown competition, and the Eric Ennis Music Scholarship.
She is the first Miss Statesville to win the Miss North Carolina crown and she will represent the state in the upcoming Miss America Pageant. The date and place have yet to be determined.
She is the daughter of Ashton and Cinamon Loyd of Mooresville and the granddaughter of Archie and Patricia Loyd of Stony Point.
To book Miss North Carolina as a speaker or singer for your event, visit www.MissNC.org
