BUENA PARK : Mrs. U.S.A. Finds Beauty in Children

Sandra Earnest, the current Mrs. U.S.A., had a simple message for Raymond Temple School students.

“Each one of you is special,” she told them.

Wearing a white satin sash trimmed in rhinestones that read “Mrs. U.S.A.,” Earnest talked Tuesday afternoon to students of the school’s anti-drug Just Say No Club about not using drugs and about making positive choices to better their lives.

Earnest, who earned her title last August and is the former Mrs. California, told the group of about 175 that each of them has “great potential and great worth.”

She told the children never to give up on their dreams.

Earnest, a Laguna Niguel resident who has been married for 22 years to Stan Earnest, said that since her reign began she has given many interviews, appeared on television shows and given speeches at women’s conferences. But she said she enjoys talking to children the most.

“My favorite is being with the children because you can really make a difference in their lives,” she said.

During her visit at Raymond Temple School, Earnest told students about her love of children, sports and what it has been like to be Mrs. U.S.A.

“You don’t get paid to be Mrs. U.S.A.,” she said. “But it’s a wonderful honor.”

Fourth-grader Prince Cooke, 9, asked what her favorite sport is. She replied that she likes all sports.

“She’s my kind of girl,” said fourth-grader Tiffany Butler, 9, holding a pad of paper and pen so she could get Earnest’s autograph.

“It’s just really neat to see her,” Tiffany added. “I learned that she likes sports and kids and that she’s teaching her children to say no to drugs.”

Earnest, who brought along a family portrait to show the students, told them that she had always wanted to be a mother and that her own mission is to prepare her children to be tomorrow’s leaders.

“I’m really doing what I wanted to do all my life: to be a wife and mother and raise incredible children,” said Earnest, whose children range in age from 5 to 21 and are honor students.

Fifth-grade student Star Williams, 10, said Earnest is “very beautiful and smart” and was impressed “that she cares for all children.”

Joe Magallanes, 12 and in sixth grade, said Earnest was not what he expected, “because beauty queens want to be rich and famous--and she just wants to be a mother.”