Ava Rose Craven of Hampstead, N.C., was crowned Miss Chapel Hill’s Teen 2027 on Sept. 19, 2026, at East Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill.
Craven takes the title with a community service initiative built on a lesson she learned at home. Etiquette Evolution: Where Courtesy Meets Confidence grew out of what her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother taught her about respect, kindness and poise, and she carries it into schools through a children’s book she wrote herself, “Miss Ann’s Tea Party.”
“I believe change starts with being a role model, especially for our youth, and I hope to use Etiquette Evolution to help children see how their words and actions can positively impact the people around them,” Craven said.
On school visits she brings the book’s message to life with interactive activities, among them a kindness toothpaste activity, manners and kindness charts, and real-life scenario games.
One visit stayed with her, when a group of students began sharing their own ideas about kindness, manners and communication, and about what they would wear to a tea party like the characters in the story. “Seeing students take something I created and make it their own reminded me why I started Etiquette Evolution in the first place,” Craven said. “It showed me that the impact of this work can reach so much further than a single school visit or even the crown.”
Craven is a junior at Topsail High School, where she serves on the leadership team of the theatre department as head of choreography and also handles the department’s social media and hair. She has danced ballet for seven years, and in the talent category she performs the Spanish Divertissement from “The Nutcracker” en pointe. She held the title of Miss Orange County’s Teen 2026.
Craven plans to pursue a career in pediatric medicine as a pediatric nurse or nurse practitioner. She says she wants to be there for children during some of their hardest moments, and to be the person who makes them feel safe, heard and cared for no matter where they come from.
Craven will represent Chapel Hill at the Miss North Carolina’s Teen competition in June 2027.
Craven can be followed on Instagram at @misschapelhillsteen_nc.
