Wright City High School junior Alejandra Salazar won the title of 2020 Wright City Ambassador at this year’s Strassenbash community festival Oct. 3.

Runners-up for the title, in order, are Katlyn Guthrie, Alex Jaspering and Jordyn Dunakey.

The Ambassador contest is the successor to the traditional Strassenbash queen contest. Salazar’s selection for the title was based on community service projects, professional interview and resume development.

Salazar was also voted by fellow participants as the “Ambassadors’ Ambassador,” the person they believed most deserved the title.

In reality, each of the participants is an ambassador to the community in their own right, assisting with school supply and hygiene supply drives, organizing a park event, and developing themselves as community members.

Salazar said being recruited as an ambassador motivated her to become more engaged with other groups and clubs at school.

“This is the first thing I’ve ever been in, as part of the community,” Salazar said. Once in, she said there wasn’t an option to be timid about volunteer or professional development activities. “You can’t be scared, you just have to go for it.”

Salazar said she hopes more students like her will take a chance on participating in the program next year.

“I didn’t think it was for me. I didn’t think anyone thought of me as a leader ... and it turned me into someone like that,” she commented.

Jordyn Dunakey, the third runner-up, said the community engagement and self-improvement activities were rewarding to do.

“Helping people and learning more people skills made me feel better about myself. It’s a good feeling, helping others, and it makes me want to keep doing it,” Dunakey said. “And you don’t really realize how many people need help.”

The four top ambassadors said their greatest improvement through the program was their individual communication skills.

“Now I’ll just talk to people in the hallway, people I’ve never met before, like, ‘Hey, how’s your day going?’” laughed second runner-up Alex Jaspering.

Those skills, combined with the community outreach of the program, form the core of how first runner-up Katlyn Guthrie defines an ambassador.

“You’re the voice of those who are too afraid to speak,” doing your part to help community members in need, Guthrie said.

Each of the four top ambassadors is being supplied an educational scholarship, paid for by 50/50 raffle tickets sold by the ambassadors and a donation from Unite Wright City. Raffle winner Jeff Haley returned an additional $400 to the scholarships, putting the awards at $1,100, $600, $300 and $250.

Ambassador contest co-organizer Heidi Halleman said the participants exemplified the qualities of an ambassador.

“More than anything, we’re encouraging a sense of community ... and we’re getting every kid to be the best representation of themselves,” Halleman said. “(The winners) were all very active in our volunteer activities, and they were all willing to be a helping hand with their fellow ambassadors.”

Halleman also remarked that the ambassador contest this year had its first male participant, Kaylob Stufflebean.

“It’s been a real joy to work with Kaylob. He’s hysterical. He’s done a real good job representing the guys,” Halleman said. “I’m hoping next year we’ll get some more.”

She added that she was proud to hear all of the ambassador participants tell her they plan to sign on again next year, and bring a friend along with them.