PITTSBURGH, March 7 -- Angela Perez Baraquio, Miss America 2001, will be the Pitt Program Council guest lecturer on Monday, March 19, at 8:30 p.m., in the University of Pittsburgh William Pitt Union (WPU) Assembly Room, 3959 Fifth Avenue, Oakland.

Baraquio will be available to the media prior to the lecture, at 7:45 p.m., in the WPU Lower Lounge.

As Miss America, Baraquio travels approximately 20,000 miles a month on a national speaking tour promoting her platform, “Character in the Classroom: Teaching Values, Valuing Teachers.”

Baraquio, an elementary school teacher, said she believes that character development should be a part of every elementary and secondary school’s culture and curriculum.

Prior to winning the Miss America crown, the Honolulu native worked at the Holy Family Catholic Academy as a physical education teacher, coach, and athletic director.

Baraquio’s awards and honors include the Sibyl Nyborg Heide Student Teaching Grant, Donna Mercado Kim Academic Scholarship, Evelyn Siu Foo Scholarship in Elementary Education, University Dean’s list, and Golden Key National Honor Society membership from 1998 to 1999.
Baraquio earned a B.Ed. in elementary education from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. She has received more than $80,000 in scholarship assistance through her participation in the Miss America Program, and hopes to complete a master’s degree in education administration.

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, call 412-648-7900.