Bay County native will represent Florida in Miss America’s Teen Competition

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – One local teen is making her dreams come true on the national level.

Anna-Katherine Risalvato won Miss Florida’s Teen earlier this year and will compete in Miss America’s Teen in Orlando next month. Her family hosted a send-off party for her Wednesday at the AKademy of Dance in Panama City Beach to celebrate the accomplishment.

“It’s such a dream come true, being able to go to the national stage and meet so many new girls,” Anna-Katherine said. “To just have this amazing opportunity, I mean this is once in a lifetime. [I’ll] just go in with being myself and being super natural on stage. Soaking everything in is kind of my game plan.”

It’s a vision Anna-Katherine’s mother has been working towards for nearly two decades.

“It has been a lifetime in the making,” Anna-Katherine’s mom Sarah Risalvato said. “We’ve worked so hard.”

Anna-Katherine has won a slew of impressive titles over the years.

“[It’s been] three years in the making,” Anna-Katherine said. “I was Miss Polk County’s Outstanding Teen, Miss Orlando’s Outstanding Teen, Miss Gainesville’s Outstanding Teen, and now Miss Florida’s Teen.”

Risalvato has also used her passion in dance and community service to pay it forward to those less fortunate.

“My nonprofit Dance for All provides a year-long scholarship for children to take a class at a studio of their choice,” she said.

Anna-Katherine told NewsChannel 7 it’s just the beginning. She said anything is possible by just believing in yourself.

“In the wise words of Walt Disney, I would say if you can dream it, you can do it,” Anna-Katherine said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned through going through the Miss America Organization, it’s to just stick to being yourself, and have the self-confidence to pursue whatever you want to do, and whatever those dreams may be, you can definitely do it.”

Risalvato is a recent graduate of Arnold High School. She’s currently a freshman at the University of Florida, where she is also on the Gator Dazzlers Dance Team.

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