Teacher Ayoka Davis is Miss St Ann Festival Queen for 2023
Published:Thursday | June 22, 2023 | 12:40 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
On Emancipation Day, Tuesday, August 1, Ayoka Davis, the Miss St Ann Festival Queen for 2023, is hoping to get the best birthday gift ever – the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen crown.
For supporters, it would be a fitting tribute for the 25th birthday of a teacher whose winning personality and mentality have endeared her to many people, especially her students at the Port Maria high and prep schools where she teaches.
Last Sunday, at Holiday Haven in Runaway Bay, this attitude led Davis to capture sectional prizes for Best Performance, and Most Congenial, as she beat six other contestants to the crown.
The first runner-up position went to Brittany Alexander, and the second runner-up position went to Nia Souden, who won four sectional prizes – Most Involved in the Community, Most Poised, Most Culturally Aware, and Most Popular on Social Media.
“I felt elated and blessed, I just knew that God has everything in control for me,” Davis told The Gleaner.
“All I was doing was praying, praying, praying, and when I heard and I saw that everyone was jumping and they were calling my name, I said ‘Thank you Jesus” and I knew that God was in control through all of this,” said the Seventh-day-Adventist Christian.
Davis said she had been following the competition for several years, going to watch the finals on several occasions before deciding to enter.
“I liked the environment, I liked how professional the girls were and I just knew that I wanted to enter,” she explained.
With encouragement, and mentoring from her sister, Amelia Brown, she took the bold step. She acknowledged the support of Damion Duckett during her journey, and also highlighted the professionalism and patience displayed by the trainer during the preparation period.
The queen seemed to have won over a large section of the crowd during the interview section, when she was asked what she would say to the prime minister, if she had the opportunity.
Davis, who holds a bachelor of science in psychology, with a minor in communications studies, from Northern Caribbean University, and who teaches history, social studies, and geography at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate level, said she would put the issues of mental health, and better pay and better working conditions for teachers, to the prime minister.
She said winning the title means she can be who she needs to be, and can now create a platform to address the issue of mental health.
Davis thanked the residents of St Ann for their support and asked for prayers at the finals.
“Pray for me throughout the whole journey. Just know that I have been waiting and I know that whatever God puts in me, it will showcase on that night of the show, and I know for sure that once I put everything in God’s hand, I know for sure whatever I put my mind to do, I will achieve it.”
“My philosophy is taken from Proverbs 21:35 – ‘She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future’,” she ended.