It was a new era for the former Junior Miss Scholarship Program as the seven participants in the 2011 Distinguished Young Women of Butler County took the stage of the Ritz Theatre on Saturday night.

Barrett Leverette, a Fort Dale Academy senior, was selected to take home the coveted DYW medallion as Butler County’s first Distinguished Young Woman. Barrett, the daughter of Tommy and Nancy Leverette of Greenville, was awarded $2,250 in scholarship money.

“I am really, really excited,” Leverette said. “I enjoyed all the practices and getting closer to all the other girls who were in it. It was a lot of hard work but it was also fun and definitely worth being a part of it.”

Along with her winner’s medallion, Leverette, who has been playing piano for the past decade, won the talent category with her performance of Calvin Jones’ “Whitewater Chopsticks.”

The most challenging aspect of getting ready for Distinguished Young Women, she says, was the grueling fitness routine required of the participants.

“That is really hard, I have to say,” she laughed.

A member of the FDA varsity dance team, Leverette  is involved in a number of activities at her school, including serving as SGA chaplain, junior class president, and as a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club and Mu Alpha Theta Math Honorary. She was also a Girls’ State representative last summer.

A fan of hoops action, Leverette  has played basketball since she was five and became a member of the FDA varsity basketball team in the 10th grade.

Part of the First Baptist Church Youth Group, Leverette also serves as a Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce Camellia Girl.

As for her future college and career plans, she says she is undecided about the college she wants to attend, but hopes profession-wise to follow in her father’s footsteps.

“I want to be a lawyer like my daddy, and maybe come back home and settle in Greenville,” she said.

On January 13, Leverette  will travel to the Capitol City to begin a weeklong “experience of a lifetime” as part of Alabama’s Distinguished Young Women Program.

“We will be meeting and getting to know our host families, visiting different places, learning our routines and getting ready for the weekend and the state program,” she said.

“I think it’s going to be a really neat experience and I am excited about it.”

Other finalists at last Saturday night’s program were 2nd runner-up Taylor Autrey, who also took the fitness and essay categories and 1st runner-up Shelley Brannon, who won the scholastic and self-expression awards.

Tanner King was selected as recipient of the Spirit of DYW Award.