Dunbar student named the first Distinguished Young Woman in Fayette County in more than a decade

Lexington hosted its first Distinguished Young Women of Fayette County Program in more than a decade on Aug. 5 at the Mitchell Fine Arts Building on the campus of Transylvania University. Madilyn “Madi” Halwes was named the Fayette County winner.

Halwes, a rising senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, also received the Overall Scholastics Award, a Self-Expression Award, an Interview Award and the Spirit of DYW Award. She won $1,500 in scholarships and received thousands of dollars in college-offered scholarship opportunities. Halwes advances to the state competition, which is Jan. 12-13 at the Singletary Center for the Arts, where she may win additional scholarships as well as the right to advance to the National Distinguished Young Women program in Mobile, Ala., next summer.

The top three winners from the Aug. 5 program were:

Overall winner: Madilyn Halwes

First runner-up: Sylvannah Regalado, a student at Lafayette High School

Second runner-up: Isabel Washington, a student at Lafayette High School and Opportunity Middle College

The program was resurrected this year by Donna Carroll, Fayette County Distinguished Young Women chairwoman. She can be reached at Fayette@distinguishedyw.org.

This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Dunbar student named the first Distinguished Young Woman in Fayette County in more than a decade."