The 2011 Teen Miss Isle of Wight County Fair Queen recently earned a $1,000 scholarship from a Virginia Association of Fairs competition.

Jackie Morin, a 17-year-old senior at Smithfield High School who lives in Carrollton, won fourth place at the Virginia Association of Fairs Youth Leadership Awards Competition last weekend. Her prize included a $1,000 scholarship.

“It was really surprising and exciting because I didn’t know I was going to win,” Morin said.

Morin tried for the scholarship in 2009, when she was crowned Pre-Teen Miss Isle of Wight County Fair Queen, but didn’t win.

She didn’t participate in 2010 but put her name in once again for this year when Isle of Wight County Fair coordinator Darlene Keyt encouraged her.

“She supports me so much, and if it weren’t for her, I would have never done the scholarship competition,” Morin said.

For the contest, entrants were required to give a presentation on the most important coordinators for their fairs, a short speech about leadership in the fair industry, an impromptu speech on how they would use $20,000 to best benefit their fairs and an interview.

For her unplanned speech, Morin told the judges she would want to use the money to help the Isle of Wight County fair protect itself against bad weather.

“I remembered that a lot of years in the past, they have had a lot of rain during the fair,” she said. “My suggestion was that we use the money to pave the dirt paths, so when it rains, we wouldn’t have to close the fair. I wanted to make sure the fair would never have to close again because of rain.”

Morin has applied to several colleges and is waiting for acceptance letters.

“My top choice is University of Virginia,” she said. “I would love to use the scholarship money there.”

In college, Morin said, she wants to study computer science and earn a doctorate to become a computer programmer.

She said she developed a passion for programming while attending the Governor’s School for Science and Technology.

“I fell in love with it, and I had so much fun learning how to program,” Morin said.

She said she loved being the queen at the Isle of Wight County Fair because she learned a lot about her county and met a lot of great people.

In addition to her studies and fair duties, Morin said, she plays several sports, including volleyball, track and various water sports.