BOURBON — Triton High School senior and Distinguished Young Woman of Triton, Alexis “Lexi” Miller, will travel to Kokomo Feb. 14 where she will prepare to compete for the 2016 title of Distinguished Young Woman of Indiana on Feb. 18, 19, and 20.

Miller and 21 other high school senior girls from across the state will represent their local programs as they take the stage at IU Kokomo’s Havens Auditorium. There they will vie for college scholarships and the opportunity to represent Indiana in the national DYW competition in Mobile, Ala., in June.

A panel of five judges will score the contestants in five different categories including scholastic achievement, interview, talent, fitness, and self-expression.

The public is invited to attend the preliminary rounds at Haven’s Auditorium at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 and 19. Miller will perform a fitness routine and answer a self expression question on Thursday. Then on Friday, she will play Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” on the piano before the preliminary awards are announced. Preliminary winners will advance to the 6 p.m. Saturday finale where the 2016 DWY of Indiana will be awarded.

Tickets can be purchased all three nights at the box office. Preliminary rounds are $10 each and $15 for the finale on Saturday. Words of encouragement and flowers can be left for contestants during all three nights of the competition.

The participant selected as the Distinguished Young Woman of Indiana will advance to the national level at the 59th Distinguished Young Women National Finals in Mobile, Ala., on June 23, 24 and 25, where she will join with 50 other representatives from across the country to compete for cash scholarships and the opportunity to represent the program as the Distinguished Young Woman of America.

Founded in 1958 in Mobile, Ala., Distinguished Young Women is the largest and oldest national scholarship program for high school girls. During its 58 years of operation, the program has provided life-changing experiences for more than 740,000 young women. Last year, Distinguished Young Women provided more than $820 million in cash and college scholarship opportunities to program participants at the local, state and national level, according to a Distinguished Young Women of America press release.

The Distinguished Young Women of America title, which Miller will be vying for if she wins at the state level in Indiana, focuses on setting goals, doing well in school and making healthy lifestyle choices to help young women reach the level of success they want for themselves, according National Field Director for Distinguished Young Women Kendra Haskins. Haskins also said that the program has a notable selection of past winners, all of whom began their journeys in the same way as Miller.

“Probably our most famous alumni would be Diane Sawyer. She was the winner in 1963 as the national overall winner. A couple others were Kathy Lee Gifford, Kim Basinger, and Deborah Messing, among others,” Haskins said.

According to Haskins, the Indiana Distinguished Young Woman program gave away over $26,000 in scholarships to Indiana high school girls, and the program is always looking for volunteers.