ORLANDO, Fla., July 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Jessica Baeder was crowned Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2018 in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center. Baeder is the embodiment of MAOTeen's mission to be the nation's leading program for scholastic achievement, healthy living and community involvement of our nation's youth.

With Miss America Savvy Shields looking on, Baeder accepted the crown on Saturday and a $30,000 scholarship toward her college education provided by The Harris Rosen Foundation and the Orlando Scholarship Foundation, Inc. The 17-year-old resides in Auburn, Alabama. Speaking to audiences about her platform, "Healthy Food for All," Miss America's Outstanding Teen will also act as the official National Teen Goodwill Ambassador for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals.

"The MAOTeen organization is always impressed by the leadership skills as well as academic and community achievements of these inspiring young women," said Steve Frocchi, Miss America's Outstanding Teen Vice President of Marketing and Development. "Jessica flourished in this group of extremely hard-working and talented students."

Jessica is a member of the National Honor Society, Mathematics Honor Society and National Technical Honor Society at Auburn High School, maintaining a 4.2 GPA. She plans to utilize her scholarships to pursue her ambition of obtaining her MD and become an orthopedic surgeon.

The first runner-up was Miss Georgia's Outstanding Teen, Annie Swan, who earned a $10,000 scholarship with her personal platform "Raise a Voice for ALS."

Second runner-up honors and a $7,500 scholarship were awarded to Maryland's Outstanding Teen, Chloe Wildman, with her personal platform "Suffering in Silence: The Invisible Illness."

Third runner-up and the winner of a $5,000 scholarship was Miss Texas' Outstanding Teen, Stephanie Wendt. Her personal platform is "#SpreadTheSmile."

The winner of a $2,000 scholarship and fourth runner-up was Miss Michigan's Outstanding Teen, Katie Preston. Her platform is "Youth Coping with Anxiety: Your Story Isn't Over Yet."

Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen, Emily Schumacher, was the winner of America's Choice, an online competition where viewers were given the opportunity to vote for their favorite Miss America's Outstanding Teen contestant and guarantee them a spot as a semi-finalist and a $1,000 scholarship. She became the 11th semi-finalist to compete in the finale.

About Miss America's Outstanding Teen

The Miss America's Outstanding Teen Organization, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is one of the nation's leading achievement programs. The MAOTeen organization encourages positive achievement by helping to nurture and build the scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement of our nation's youth. MAOTeen provides educational scholarships for deserving young people and has developed mentoring programs and community-based initiatives across the country. The Miss America's Outstanding Teen organization has a long-standing relationship with Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Through this partnership, MAOTeen contestants raise over $300,000 annually to help improve the lives of CMNH children and families. Additional information about the Miss America's Outstanding Teen organization can be found at www.maoteen.org.