Miss Mississippi 2024 Becky Williams and Miss Mississippi Teen 2025 Avery McNair took the opportunity to read to children at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library on Friday morning.

“Kids are my passion. I knew in second grade that I wanted to be a teacher, and then this experience is my Miss Mississippi. I’ve gotten into classrooms across the state. I’ve impacted thousands of children. Millions if you count social media,” Williams said. “I love kids because they’re so important to the future of everything. And I think every child deserves a proper education, the proper access to resources. And I think in a state like Mississippi, it’s so important to advocate for children. And so coming to events like this at public libraries, where anyone is welcome to come and do whatever they want to and especially advocate for reading and make sure that students are reading and know what books are and like to read books, I think that’s just something that’s so important and foundational in a child’s life.”

McNair said she remembered meeting a previous Miss Mississippi at a similar event when she was a child.

“I actually met Hannah Roberts when I was about nine years old, and that first interaction with her really struck my interest as to why I’m here now. And so I think it’s important that we meet these kids at a young age and we really engrave it in their minds and show them why it’s so important and how cool it can be to be Miss Mississippi and Miss Mississippi’s teen,” McNair said. “It strikes an interest at an early age. And so we might have just met a future Miss Mississippi or Miss Mississippi Teen. And so I think it’s really cool to be a part of their story, too.”

The two read three books to the young children who attended: “It’s Okay to Make Mistakes” by Todd Parr, “Gorgeously Me” by Jonathan Van Ness, and “What Does it Mean to be Kind” by Rana DiOrio.