Kylie at a benefit for the Navy Seals with Lee and Kim Greenwood
Kylie in St. Pete, home of the Miss Florida pageant
Kylie performing at the You Tube Republican Debate
Kylie performed with Country Music's rising star, Jay Taylor in Bradenton www.jaytaylormusic.com Thanks to Agnes Baker and Stephane Shaffer! Jay Taylor is a country singer-songwriter with authentic country roots. Now based in Nashville, Jay was raised in the Central Florida town of Duette on a 2,000-acre cattle ranch that has been in his family since the 1930s. Jay first sang in public at age 3 for the congregation of the historic Dry Prairie Baptist Church, accompanied by his mother, the church pianist. Music and performing have been part of his life ever since. “My whole family sang and my mother played piano, ” he says, “so I just thought everyone knew how.

July 3, 2007 – September 1, 2007

●Meeting with Mayor Marks & City of Tallahassee
●94.9 WTNT 4th of July Celebration, Tallahassee
●Appearance on WCTV News, Tallahassee
●Appearance at Austral Latin Fusion, Lake Mary
●City of Jasper Welcome Home Reception
●Meeting with Department of Veteran Affairs, Tallahassee
●Appearance at AT&T, Tallahassee
●Send Off Party for Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen, Orlando
●Special Guest at 50th Anniversary for St. Petersburg Beach
●Attended Grand Opening of the Fisher House,  Tampa
●Appearance at Sea World, Orlando
●Visit to Shands, a Children's Miracle Network Hospital, Gainesville
●Attendance at Miss America's Outstanding Teen Pageant, Orlando
●Special Guest at Officer's Candidate School Graduation, Camp Blanding
●Interview on IN THE SPOTLIGHT, WCTV, Tallahassee
●VIP at Naval Bootcamp Graduation, Illinois
●Presented with keys to new car by Hopkins Motor Company, Lake City
●Filmed PSA for American Red Cross, Tallahassee
●Performance with Nashville's Jay Taylor, Bradenton

Miss Florida Articles
●Taking to the skies
●Lake City Article
Miss Florida challenges students to make ‘right decisions, right now’
By TROY ROBERTS

Published: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 6:10 AM EDT

Kylie Williams, the reigning Miss Florida, spoke to middle school

students at Lake City Christian Academy and Fort White High School on Tuesday about the dangers of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

She will continue her “Right Decisions, Right Now” series today for other local middle schoolers.

The Hamilton County native, who recently placed in the top 16 finalists of the Miss America pageant, talked to students Tuesday about making the right choices and discussed making those same tough decisions when she was in school.

The 24-year-old Williams said she had a difficult time in middle and high school, where she often felt peer pressure to join in with other students who were boozing it up on the weekends or taking drugs. Instead, she chose to spend her time studying and volunteering her services at a local hospital.

The pressure was even worse after an accident at the age of 15 — a microwave mishap caused an explosion that scarred Williams’ face and forced her into an extended hospital stay. After her release, a number of her friends attempted to get her to go to a party — where alcohol would be served — to earn “cool points” because it was so soon after her accident.

“After the explosion, I had the perfect opportunity to stray,” she said. “But I didn’t.”

Things didn’t get better after that, she said. Students continued to harass her, but Williams kept her focus — she graduated in 2001 as valediction of her class and later enrolled at Florida State University as a marketing major.

“If you have anything going on in your life — trouble with your parents, trouble at school, trouble with your peers — it’s all happening for a reason,” Williams said. “You are being prepared for something later in your life.”

That something later turned into the Miss America pageant, something Williams was hesitant to go into at first. During her first year at FSU in 2002, Williams said a friend wanted her to enter a pageant with her. At first she said no, and then later allowed the decision to ride on the outcome of an upcoming FSU-University of Florida football game.

The Seminoles lost and Williams went on to compete in the pageant, and won. She later found out the pageant was a preliminary for the Miss Florida competition. Her passion for the title of Miss Florida was sparked, and after five years of competitions, she was named Miss Florida in 2007.

“I couldn’t be happier, and it’s because of the decisions I made,” she said. “You can be anything you want to be, but one wrong decision can ruin everything. If you make good choices, you can be anything you want to be.”

LCCA Principal Greg Forster said Williams appearance at the school Tuesday afternoon is very relevant to what students face today.

“It’s all about making the right choices, and this helps reinforce what we try to stress to them every day,” he said.