Emily+M

=Name of person: Heather Leigh Whitestone McCallum= == =Born: Febuary 24, 1973= = = =Hometown: Dothan, Alabama= = = =Best Known for: Being the first deaf Miss America and Miss Alabama=

=Biography: Heather Whitestone has been the Miss America plenty of times by doing ballet, but there is a twist. At 18 moths old, she was deaf. While growing up, school was hard because she went to regular schools.She then got a taste of pagent life and won the Miss Shelby County Pagent. She finally convinced her parents to catch her up on school work by sending her to the CID. She then started getting better at ballet, her true passion. After returning home, she saw that her parents divorced. She then went to Jackson University and the pagent there. She sadly was the 2nd runner up. with lots of support form her family and friends, she won. Then with a heart of gold, she won the Miss America pagent. She saw that many applaused, including lots from her parents, though she could not hear who won. It was untill she was crowned that she knew. After that she married John Macallum. In 2001 her 1st son, John was born and in 2002 her 2nd son was born named James. She is now 40.= = = =Interesting Facts:She was the 1st deaf Miss America. She is still only 40.=

=Quotes: " Through ballet I was fortunate to find a place to escape, a refuge from my feelings of being an outsider. "= == =References:Heather Whitestone, inspiring Miss America by Martine G. Bates= [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Whit] [] [|estone]