Miss Vicksburg’s Outstanding Teen Tori Ross takes her pageant platform to heart.

The cause the Warren Central High School junior is advocating is “HappyHearts,” aimed at instilling healthful habits early in life, she told Port City Kiwanis this week.

“It’s teaching children in elementary school how to keep your heart healthy,” Ross said.

As with other pageants, competitors in the Outstanding Teen contest must come up with a platform to raise awareness for.

“What really matters is what you’re trying to get across,” she said.

Ross said her pageant platform was born following a family emergency.

“My grandmother in September of last year had a heart attack. It was completely unexpected,” she said. “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever gone through, knowing that somebody could be there one day and then you wouldn’t get to talk to them the next.”

After her grandmother’s heart attack, Ross decided to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease and to stay healthy throughout life. She’s visited a number of school and daycare programs sharing information.

“I didn’t even know what cardiovascular disease was. They don’t teach us that in school,” she said. “You don’t learn how to keep your heart healthy or how to keep your body healthy.”

Ross’ secondary platform, she said, is “How Great is My God.”

“That’s been my platform since I was like 3,” she said. “It was the first song I learned in church. It seemed like no matter what bad thing I went though growing up, I could look up and say ‘how great is my God.”

Ross will be one of three local teens competing in Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen pageant June 4-6 at Vicksburg City Auditorium.

Other local competitors include Miss Pearl River Valley’s Outstanding Teen Addison Mathis and Miss Heart of Dixie’s Outstanding Teen Emily Tingle.