COUNTYWIDE : Miss O.C.: Lessons to Learn, Teach

Rhonda D. Wofford doesn’t have fond memories of the fourth grade. She recalls being bused across Los Angeles as part of an experimental integration program. She sat in the back of a classroom where a teacher gave her building blocks to keep her occupied while she taught the rest of the class.

Today, adorned with a tiara and banner proclaiming her the new Miss Orange County U.S.A., Wofford frequently finds herself at the head of classrooms. Her lesson plan: to keep students focused on the importance of education.

Contest sponsors believe Wofford is the first African-American to officially represent Orange County. Others have represented the county in the state competition, but were at-large contestants and not local pageant winners. She hopes to use her title to inspire students to continue their education and give them the courage to achieve their goals.

“Our kids are missing the process,” said Wofford, 23. “I think we need to make education something kids ask for. Right now they think it is a drag.”

At one time, Wofford admits, the education process daunted her. In the fifth grade, she was told she had a learning deficit. It wasn’t until junior high school and her family’s move to Orange County that Wofford got the extra attention she needed.

By the seventh grade, she was doing math on a ninth-grade level. Eleven years later, Wofford is working toward a bachelor’s degree in science at Irvine Valley College and plans to attend UC Irvine for her doctorate.

In her spare time, Wofford participates in local beauty pageants, models and does clerical work for temporary agencies. She competed against 10 other women to win her current title and will go on to represent Orange County in the Miss California Pageant U.S.A. in October.

A California native, Wofford is one of three children. She laughs at the irony of an African-American woman from a working-class family representing a county that is known for its affluent inhabitants and minimal minority population.

“I want to show people that the stereotypes about black people are old,” she said. Wofford adds that the civil unrest in Los Angeles had a lot to do with her final decision to participate in the May 17 pageant.

“I decided the day the (Rodney King) verdict came out that I was running,” she said. After watching the live news coverage of the events that followed, she said she could “just imagine the way kids were thinking about black people after seeing that.”

Even before winning the Miss Orange County title, Wofford spent a lot of her time doing community outreach work. She founded a teen program in 1989 in Compton for girls in low-income families, and in high school she volunteered as a hugger at the Special Olympics.

She has also done volunteer work for the American Cancer Society and AIDS outreach programs.

Wofford said she hopes to leave a legacy of community outreach for next year’s winner.

Fingering the banner, she said: “This is a tool I use to reach kids. Some girls have not used the title that way and they are really missing out on the gift of giving hope.”