Fort Dale Academy senior Cailyn Thompson will be representing Butler County in the 2015 Distinguished Young Women of Alabama Program in Montgomery at Frazer United Methodist Church next week.

Preliminaries will be held on Fri., Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m., and Sat., Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. with the finals set for 7 p.m. Contestants participate in activities during the week leading up to the prelims.

“Cailyn is a wonderful young lady and will be an excellent representative for our county. We are so very proud of her and wish her all the best,” Starla Jones, Chairman of the Distinguished Young Women of Butler County Board of Directors, said.

The girls participating in the program are girls from throughout the state who are representing the county in which they reside.

The girl who is chosen as the Distinguished Young Woman of Alabama will represent the state at the national program this June in Mobile.

All awards are cash scholarships and several universities give scholarships based on the title of DYW, according to Jones.

Thompson won the Butler County title last August, where contestants competed in five categories: scholastics, interview, talent, fitness and self expression.

She won $2,300 in scholarship money at the August competition, as well as $500 to help cover the costs of competing at state next week.