McLean, 23, is a graduate student at North Carolina State University, pursuing a master’s in teaching degree. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, she will represent the counties of Lee, Moore, Richmond and Scotland as Miss Greater Sandhills at the 2010 Miss North Carolina competition in June.

Emilea (Emmy) McLean is debunking the myth that pageant girls are shallow and less-than-intelligent. She developed her skin cancer awareness program, called “Rays Your Awareness,” in 2006 and has been promoting it to high school students in several counties since that time and has now garnered national attention. As Miss Greater Sandhills 2010, she has continued to promote the platform with intentions of taking her message state-wide. Now, with the Skin Care Awareness Foundation’s support, she might even get the opportunity to educate high school students nationwide.

Former Miss Moore County in 2007 and third runner-up to Miss North Carolina that year, Emmy has continued to promote safe sunning behavior to students. As she approached the Miss Greater Sandhills pageant in August, she decided she needed to partner with a professional association to help maximize her impact. She contacted the Skin Cancer Awareness Foundation (SCAF) and sparked a new relationship that she hopes will help her truly make a significant difference in teen tanning behaviors.

“It’s very empowering to partner with an organization that has so much visibility,” McLean says. “Anyone can make a difference if they truly champion a cause individually, but we make the greatest impact when we can band together to promote healthy behaviors,” she added.

Since her first contact with William Barth, President and CEO of SCAF, back in July, she has been named the national Sun Smart Teens Program Director. Her goal is to educate adolescents about the dangers of tanning with UVA and UVB rays and to encourage them to take advantage of safe tanning alternatives. She promotes the use of sunless tanning, such as with creams, lotions, and spray tans as a way to sport that healthy bronze glow.

“It’s hard to persuade adolescents to change their definition of beauty, which unfortunately includes being tan these days,” McLean says. “But what I can do is emphasize the dangers of UV tanning while promoting UV-free tanning as the healthiest and most affordable option. My presentations serve as a way to do this.”

Even more impressive is the fact that her PowerPoint presentation, which has been made available to interested advocates across the country through the SCAF’s Web site, has now been made the official information tool of the Sun Safe Spa Program. This program, the brainchild of the SCAF’s CEO Bill Barth, encourages spas to offer UV-free tanning treatments on May 1, 2010, which marks the beginning of Skin Cancer Awareness Month, in an effort to pamper patrons in the healthiest way. A portion of partnering spas’ proceeds will benefit the Foundation and provide for child and teen educational awareness programs across the country.

“With the participation of the spa industry advocating healthy sun-safe beauty alternatives to their clients, we can make a difference in our communities,” Barth states.

For more information or to schedule Emmy for an appearance, please contact Jan Spivey, Executive Director of the Miss Greater Sandhills Scholarship Pageant Organization at (910) 944-56997 (or rr.com" diamondent@nc.rr.com) or Kaye Fritz, Business Manager for Miss Greater Sandhills, at (910) 944-7117 (or fritzkk@windstream.net).

You can also visit the Skin Cancer Awareness Foundation’s Web site at www.skincaf.org.