Emma Burke named Miss Port St. Joe 2023
Port St Joe now has its very own Miss Port St Joe.
The first of its kind title, introduced this year, was awarded to Emma Grace Burke, a senior at Port St Joe High School and a third generation native of the town.
Burke is currently serving as a captain of the Varsity Cheer Team at her school and is actively involved in the Student Government Association, National Honor Society, Key Club, National Art
Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Senior Executive Board.
She is a high honor student.
“I am so excited about the opportunity to represent my City and be actively involved in events and happenings as Miss Port St. Joe throughout 2023,” said Burke “I am especially excited to speak with students about my platform, which I am very passionate about.”
With her platform, Burke hopes to tackle bullying, especially cyber bullying, which is on the rise among students, starting as early as elementary school.
“It can be devastating to a young person’s confidence and reputation,” she said. “I was a victim of bullying myself, so this is a topic near and dear to my heart.”
Burke made her public debut at Miss Port St. Joe on Tuesday, November 1 at the Port St. Joe Board of City Commissioners’ regular meeting.
Miss Port St Joe is directed by Amy Connolly and is not affiliated with any state or national level pageant.
Burke was hand-selected by organizers of Miss Port St. Joe, who felt she could leave a lasting legacy for the role. In the future, Connelly said she would like to organize a pagaent for the community, should there be enough support for such an event.
To book an appearance for Miss PSJ, please email: [email protected].
This report has been updated from earlier versions to include details of Burke’s selection for the role.
Meet the Editor
Wendy Weitzel, The Star’s digital editor, joined the news outlet in August 2021, as a reporter covering primarily Gulf County.
Prior to then, she interned for Oklahoma-based news wire service Gaylord News and for Oklahoma City-based online newspaper NonDoc.com during her four years at the University of Oklahoma, from which she graduated in May with degrees in online journalism and political science.
While at OU, Weitzel was selected as Carnegie-Knight News21 Investigative Fellow among 30 top journalism students from around the country. She also was senior editor managing a 12-person newsroom in coordination with Oklahoma Watch, a non-profit news organization in eastern Oklahoma.