Jessica Coats, 18, will head off to college next fall on a swimming scholarship.
But first, she is one of six court members who will appear Thursday, July 6, in the Sportsman’s Holiday Coronation cere-monies at 7 p.m. at the Sweet Home Elks Lodge. The event kicks off the annual festival, which runs through Sunday.
The other court members are Kylie Armstrong, Elizabeth Chelstad, Bethany Gingerich, Kendyl Stutzman and JessiLynn Thomas.
Coats is the daughter of Joe and Susan Couch.
She’s been very active in swimming, both at the club and high school level, helping the Sweet Home girls to two straight state titles and winning an individual championship this year.
She’s also been involved in Class Board, which plans events at Sweet Home High School, and in Leadership.
She said she joined the court “to be more involved in the community.”
If her best friend were asked to explain her personality, she said, that friend would say “I’m very honest and have the tendency to make people laugh.”
Coats has signed a letter of intent to swim for NCAA Division I Wagner College in New York City, where she plans to major in ele-mentary education and become a school teacher.
“My goals in life are to be happy, successful, and eventually have a family,” she said.