Queen of Hearts

Driving through the hills of Southern Indiana is a beautiful and scenic route especially when that route takes you to Switzerland County High School and the annual Queen of Hearts Contest hosted by Switzerland County FFA. Every year the Switzerland County FFA Chapter beautifies their school by allowing any young women in their school the opportunity to fill out an application and pay a twenty-five dollar entry fee to enter the contest.  Each contestant has a sponsor in the community and a platform.  The platforms are some kind of community service project ranging from awareness about child abuse, domestic violence, giving back to veterans, or fighting cancer.  Whichever young, talented woman is crowned Queen of Hearts will then promote her platform throughout the year with the help of the Switzerland County FFA Chapter. 

Every candidate goes through a three minute interview, models sportswear and an evening gown, and is judged on a response to a leadership quote.  On the day of the contest, all the ladies arrive a few hours early to go through the interview.  After the interviews, the ladies change into their evening gowns and the auditorium fills with spectators.  Each spectator pays a three dollar entrance fee, which along with the twenty-five dollar entry fee each young woman pays, goes toward the Special Olympics in the local area.  The Switzerland County FFA Chapter Advisor, Mr. Curlin who also serves as the NAAE President, commented on how proud he was of his school.  The Queen of Hearts Contest has been going on now for 18 years.  Some of the past Queen of Hearts's platforms have even turned into annual traditions, such as the canned food drive which supports the local food pantry. 

This year's Queen of Hearts was the FFA Chapter President, Andrea, whose platform is to stop texting and driving in both teenagers and adults.  After learning the history of the contest and the impact the platforms make every year it is easy to see that Switzerland County and their FFA Chapter are beautiful inside and out!

From FFA: Following the Future of Agriculture