Neon shirts, crazy socks and comfy pajamas lined the halls of schools around the country. During the month of October thousands of students participated in themed days for Red Ribbon Week.

All across the nation, Red Ribbon Week encourages students from K-12 to stay drug-free. Many schools held drug-free assemblies. This year FHS welcomed alumna Madison Fuller, who holds the title of Miss Texas, to host the annual Red Ribbon Week assembly.  

“I sat in these chairs,” Miss Texas Madison Fuller said. “I know what it feels like, so I tried to put myself back in their shoes.”

As Miss Texas, Fuller travels all across the state to speak, share her story, and promote her platform. In the month of October, she traveled to nine schools during Red Ribbon Week to speak mostly to elementary or intermediate age students.

“This is my first high school program at my very own high school,” Fuller said. “With little kids I am automatically attracted to them and get along great, but for the junior high and high school students I tried to think of what I wanted to hear when I was their age.”

Fuller graduated in the class of 2013. She balanced school work and pageant training for a total of 14 years before being crowned as Miss Texas.

“I competed [for] three years as a teen before winning Miss Texas’ Outstanding Teen and then five years for Miss Texas,” Fuller said. “I knew I wanted to be Miss Texas, and I was going to compete until I couldn’t anymore.”

This past June, Fuller competed in the Miss Texas scholarship competition as Miss Dallas and went home as Miss Texas. When competing, every contestant has a social impact that they support and work on during their reign. Fuller’s social impact is Pediatric Cancer.

“I do a lot of hospital visits. My goal is to visit all 17 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in Texas,” Fuler said. “I have two checked off right now and I am trying to get those other 15.”

With her platform, Sock It To Cancer: Pediatric Cancer, Fuller visits children’s hospitals, performs her talent as a ventriloquist, and creates sock puppets with the patients.

“I know that I cannot cure cancer,” Fuller said. “But I know that if I can take their mind off of it for five minutes or 10 minutes and let them be a kid again then that’s what it’s all about for me.”

Apart from traveling across Texas to make appearances and promoting her platform, Fuller had the opportunity to join the Miss America stage with 50 other young women in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

“Miss America was a once in a lifetime deal,” Fuller said. “It was such an out of body experience.”

Fuller competed in these categories on the Miss America stage: talent, where she performed as a ventriloquist, private interview, where she discussed her platform, evening wear, where she wore a Fernando Wong dress down the stage, and lastly, replacing the swimwear competition, a live interaction with the judges.

“When I went to Miss America and I saw there was no swimsuit I wasn’t going to let that ruin the experience for me,” Fuller said. “While I liked it, the organization still has a lot of great aspects to it that have nothing to do with a bikini.”

During her week of competing at Miss America, friends and family members back home created shirts and hosted watch parties to see Fuller represent not only Freestone County but the entire state of Texas.

“It was surreal getting on Facebook after and seeing all the people posting pictures,” Fuller said. “I don’t think any other contestant felt as much as I did.”

Although Fuller did not come home with the Miss America crown, she still has a year of service as Miss Texas left.

“I taught Kindergarten prior to winning Miss Texas,” Fuller said. “Part of me misses my classroom, that’s how I know that I was doing what I was supposed to do with my life.”