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Miss Tennessee 2017 spoke to Putnam County students Wednesday as an effort to bring more awareness to the state’s opioid epidemic.
Knoxville native Caty Davis said addiction became a personal issue to her after she lost her half-brother and father to opioid abuse.
Davis said her goal is to change the stigma about addiction and to encourage students that it’s OK to reach out for help.
“First I want to establish credibility with the students because I am a blonde pageant queen and I walk on stage with heels on and they’re (students) probably thinking what is she going to say that’s really going to matter,” Davis said.
“I immediately start talking about my family and how I didn’t grow up with the perfect lifestyle or a fairytale life. I had to work hard and get scholarships. I buried two of my family members before I even graduated college…and so making it real, letting them know, and me getting vulnerable with them allows them to be vulnerable themselves.”
Davis spoke to students at Monterey and Cooekville High School and also met with Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris to talk about the state’s REDLINE addiction hotline, which provides up-to-date addiction information to all citizens of Tennessee at their request.
As part of her Miss Tennessee 2017 title, Davis serves as Governor Bill Haslam’s official spokesperson for Character Education and travels over 80,000 miles speaking to 50,000 schoolchildren statewide. She will continue speaking to Putnam County students on Thursday.
The number for Tennessee REDLINE is 1-800-889-9789
