18 contestants will vie for the title of Miss Highland Home 2005 at the school's auditorium this Friday night.

The pageant is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.

This year's theme is 'Endless Love', a fitting title according Melanie Matthews.

"It's February which coincides with Valentine's Day, so we thought this would be a good theme to have a lot of fun with," she said. Matthews co-directs the pageant along with Bridget Mcinnes, Tiffany Fussell and Legia Free.

Although the contest is open girls in grades 9 through 12, what makes Miss Highland Home so special, said Matthews, is that prior to the actual pageant the contestants are chosen through an intense elimination process. Because the auditorium stage at Highland Home is so small, contestants used to be voted on and included in the pageant. That has changed in recent years.

"We now judge the girls on attendance, tardiness, discipline and their grades," said Matthews. "They are also given a one minute interview by a select group of judges."

By limiting the number of contestants Matthews said the overall program is more entertaining and allows the girls to be judged on a number of different merits. The contestants are interviewed again by the pageant judges themselves prior to the program. During the pageant, the girls are judged on poise and appearance, individual modeling, physical fitness and their specific talent.

"It really prepares the girls for future beauty pageants and the Junior Miss pageant specifically," Matthews said.

Rick Hendrix, of 95.1 FM, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

Tickets are $5 at the door. No advanced tickets will be sold.