Pope John senior crowned Miss Stillwater

The Township of Stillwater recently held its annual Miss Stillwater contest at the Township Community Center in Swartswood. Participants had to be 17 to 21 years of age and provide a description of the various talents and accomplishments. After much deliberation, Megan Halpin, of Pope John XXIII Regional High School Class of 2022, was crowned the winner.

According to her application, Halpin has served the Stillwater community for over 12 years. Initially, as a Girl Scout, she has helped the environment of Stillwater Township by assisting with planting forestry, cleaning up litter, and planting trees in the community. In her elementary school years, she served Stillwater Township School as class president, founding both the Lego Club and Harry Potter Book Club, to enhance the students’ STEM skills and love of reading. She is proud to say those clubs are still active today, six years after her graduation from the school.

In high school, Halpin enhanced her roots in Stillwater even deeper. As a five-year volunteer as a second-, fifth- and sixth-grade Sunday school teacher and teacher’s aide at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, she actively engages students in their Catholic faith. In her school community, Halpin continued her legacy of leadership by establishing a book club at Pope John. Recently, she and the club took leftover curriculum books and filled Little Free Libraries across Sussex County and areas of Morris County. She filled all three of Stillwater’s Little Free Libraries with classic novels ranging from “To Kill a Mockingbird” to “Of Mice and Men.”

On top of this, Halpin has followed her passion for STEM and now leads the Pope John Robotics Team as a senior captain. She mentors incoming freshmen on critical thinking and tool use, while acting as the team’s PR department, and holds newfound contacts with companies such as IROBOT and Picatinny Stem. It is here where she found her passion and major. Halpin will be attending Michigan State University in the fall for qualitative data analytics, risk assessment, and management for corporate businesses.

In her State community, she won first place for public speaking during the State 4-H Public Speaking competition held at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick. Nationally, she advocates for youth with disabilities and cleft palates as vice president of the Operation Smile Organization at Pope John, which raises money for students across the country with such disabilities. Halpin is a part of the National Math Honor Society and National English Honor Society.

In her free time, Halpin enjoys reading, gardening and needle felting, as well as spending time with her family and friends.

She will now represent Stillwater at the New Jersey State Fair in August to compete in the Queen of the Fair contest, along with other township winners.