Kelly Jones Carr (born 1976/1977) is an American

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

and

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

titleholder from

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, who was named

Miss Alabama The Miss Alabama competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the annual Miss America Competition. Alabama has won three Miss America titles: Deidre Downs in 2005, Heather Whitestone (the first deaf ...

2001.

Career

In high school, Jones was a contestant in Mississippi's

Junior Miss ''Junior Miss'' is a collection of semi-autobiographical stories by Sally Benson first published in ''The New Yorker''. Between 1929 and the end of 1941, the prolific Benson published 99 stories in ''The New Yorker'', some under her pseudonym of ...

. In 1998, she was crowned Miss Lake Wedowee and placed at Miss Alabama that year. While a senior at

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...

, Jones won the title of Miss Samford 1999. The next year she was crowned Miss Jefferson County 2000. Jones was selected as Miss Homewood Area 2001 then, in early 2001, Jones was diagnosed with

toxic shock syndrome Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a condition caused by bacterial toxins. Symptoms may include fever, rash, skin peeling, and low blood pressure. There may also be symptoms related to the specific underlying infection such as mastitis, osteomyeliti ...

, a potentially fatal illness caused by a

bacterial toxin Microbial toxins are toxins produced by micro-organisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, dinoflagellates, and viruses. Many microbial toxins promote infection and disease by directly damaging host tissues and by disabling the immune system. ...

. The antibiotic treatment for this caused her most of her hair to fall out just two months before the

pageant in June. Jones' preliminary competition talent for Miss Alabama was playing classical piano. Her platform was "Boys and Girls Clubs: Be a Peer Role Model". Jones won the state competition on Saturday, June 16, 2001, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss Alabama titleholder Jana Sanderson. After winning, Jones announced she would use the scholarship money to pursue a graduate degree in music education. As Miss Alabama, her activities included public appearances across the state of Alabama. Jones was Alabama's representative at the

Miss America 2002 Miss America 2002, the 75th Miss America pageant, was televised live from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, September 22, 2001, on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC Network. The pageant was won by Katie Harman of Miss ...

pageant in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

. Her competition talent was a classical piano performance of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

's Ballade No. 1. Jones was not one of the finalists for the Miss America title. Her reign as Miss Alabama continued until Scarlotte Deupree was crowned on June 15, 2002.

Personal life

Jones is a

, native and spent part of her

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

years at

Mountain Brook High School Mountain Brook High School (MBHS) is a three-year public high school in the city of Mountain Brook, Alabama USA. It is the only high school in the Mountain Brook City School System. The school's colors are green and gold and the athletic teams a ...

. She is a 1995 graduate of Lamar High School in

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...

. Majoring in piano performance, Jones graduated from

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in December 1999. While at Samford, she was inducted into the Kappa Chapter of the

Alpha Delta Pi Alpha Delta Pi (), commonly known as ADPi (pronounced "ay-dee-pye"), is an International Panhellenic sorority founded on May 15, 1851, at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. It is the oldest secret society for women. Alpha Delta Pi is a mem ...

sorority Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...

. She then enrolled in a graduate program at

The University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the public ...

studying music education. Before becoming Miss Alabama in 2001, Jones worked as a fragrance model, a waitress, and a piano teacher. After graduating, she owned and operated a music academy in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

. In 2008, she was hired as the administrator for the Gadsden Community School for the Arts in

Gadsden, Alabama Gadsden is a city in and the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan ...

. Her parents are Jerry Wilson Jones and Cynthia Perkins Jones. During her reign as Miss Alabama, her father worked for a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

and her mother was a homemaker. She is an

only child An only child is a person with no siblings, Birth, by birth or adoption. Children who have half-siblings, step-siblings, or have never met their siblings, either living at the same house or at a different house—especially those who were born con ...

. Jones was raised

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word ...

. On August 9, 2003, she married Benjamin Matthew Carr. Her wedding was featured in the 2004 edition of ''Alabama Weddings''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Kelly 1970s births Living people American beauty pageant winners Educators from Alabama American women educators Miss Alabama winners Miss America 2002 delegates People from Augusta, Georgia People from Birmingham, Alabama People from Gadsden, Alabama Samford University alumni Southern Baptists University of Alabama alumni Baptists from Alabama