Singing and dancing since the age of 5, Amanda became involved with the Miss Ohio Scholarship Program in 2002. She was attracted by the opportunity to develop a community service platform, earn scholarship dollars, and showcase her singing talent on stage. Amanda placed in the top ten at Miss Ohio as Miss Summit County in 2002, was first runner-up as Miss North Coast in 2003 and represented the Miss Lake Erie program in 2004 when she captured the title of Miss Ohio 2004. Amanda was a talent award winner at Miss America singing Puccini's Quando m'en vo and won over $35,000 in scholarships throughout her competitive years.
Through out her year of service as Miss Ohio, Amanda promoted Youngstown State University's SMARTS - Students Motivated by the Arts. SMARTS is an after-school, weekend and summer arts program for at-risk youth. Amanda hosted school assemblies and performances for thousands of students and spoke for hundreds of community events, schools, and service organizations about the importance of after-school programming and the utilization of the arts as a tool to motivate and inspire students to learn and succeed. Amanda still offers motivational presentations and continues her commitment to community service as a SMARTS teaching artist.
Her most memorable appearances as Miss Ohio include singing the National Anthem at a Cleveland Browns game, entertaining patients at Walter Reed Medical Center, and singing for such luminaries as John Glenn. After her year of service, she parlayed her Miss Ohio experiences into continued public speaking, hosting, and concert appearances through the Mid West and East Coast.
Amanda holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and a Master of Science degree in Entertainment Business. She has entertained audiences in venues of all kinds including large arenas, lively festivals, intimate theaters, cruise ship showrooms and of course, pageant stages. A classically trained singer, she is comfortable coaching vocalists in the worlds of Opera, , Pop, Musical Theatre, Country and Jazz. Amanda is an active pageant coach, currently serving contestants from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Mississippi and New Jersey. Contestants from all regions of the country are welcome to apply for coaching services.
