Angela Perez Baraquio is a classroom teacher by profession, but after becoming Miss America 2001 last October she soon found that she herself still had a lot to learn.

Growing up in a close-knit family of 12 from Hawaii, Baraquio's history-making victory as the first Asian-American Miss America has taken her half a world away from her homeland and her confidence-building circle of support among her family, friends and the school children who encouraged her to enter the Miss America competition.

She admits it was a big adjustment for a young woman who wasn't comfortable in airplanes suddenly to be fulfilling a travel schedule that has upped her frequent-flyer credits some 20,000 miles a month.
 
Yet, it was a more fundamental quest as a teacher - "to make a difference in the lives of children" - that kept her going after being crowned. Through all of her travels, Angie has not only embodied the American Dream but also has encouraged her countrymen to embrace the values underlying the dream.

She addresses audiences on issue of character and the timeless values that have impacted us all. Call today for a customized program. <