Jennifer Berry

Jennifer Berry-Gooden (born July 18, 1983) is an American beauty pageant titleholder[1] who was crowned Miss America on January 21, 2006. A resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, she was the fifth Miss America from Oklahoma to hold the title.

Jennifer Berry
Born (1983-07-18) July 18, 1983
Houston, Texas
Alma materUniversity of Oklahoma
TitleMiss Grand Lake 2005
Miss Oklahoma 2005
Miss America 2006
TermJanuary 21, 2006 -
January 29, 2007
PredecessorDeidre Downs
SuccessorLauren Nelson
Spouse(s)
Nathan Gooden
(
m. 2007)
Children4

Early life and education

Berry was born in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Jenks High School in 2001, and attended the University of Oklahoma with a major in elementary education. She expressed hopes to attain a Master's in education and become an elementary school teacher after her reign as Miss America.

Pageants

Miss Oklahoma 2005

She won the Miss Oklahoma 2005 title in a state pageant held Tulsa on June 11, 2005. She competed as Miss Grand Lake and was a double preliminary winner, winning awards for both talent and swimsuit. This was Berry's fifth attempt at the state title, as she placed third runner-up in 2004 and 2003, made the top 10 in 2002 and was unplaced in 2001.

Miss America 2006

Berry represented Oklahoma in the Miss America 2006 pageant broadcast from the Theatre for the Performing Arts on the Las Vegas Strip on January 21, 2006, the first time the pageant was held outside Atlantic City, New Jersey. During the preliminary competitions Berry won a preliminary talent award for her ballet en pointe performance. At the end of the final night of competition, which involved interview, swimsuit, evening gown and talent competitions, Berry won the Miss America 2006 title, the first titleholder to be crowned outside Atlantic City.

Her platform issue as Miss Oklahoma and Miss America was "Building Intolerance to Drunk Driving and Underage Drinking." She acted a national spokesperson for Mothers Against Drunk Driving during her reign and also worked on behalf of numerous other charities. Berry also had the opportunity to host the second annual Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant held in Orlando, Florida.

Berry signing autographs at a Miss America 2008 event

Personal life

She is a member of the Churches of Christ.[2] She currently lives in Seattle, Washington. On April 28, 2007 she married Nathan Gooden in her hometown of Tulsa.[3]

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References
  1. "Jennifer Berry". Comcast. September 1, 2005. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  2. Bobby Ross Jr., "Months after baptism, Jennifer Berry wins Miss American pageant" Archived 2010-05-26 at the Wayback Machine in Christian Chronicle, 2006 January 25.
  3. Robin Leach, "Jennifer Berry -- Her Final Interview as Miss America" on VegasPop, 2007 January 29.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Deidre Downs		 Miss America
2006		 Succeeded by
Lauren Nelson
Preceded by
Elizabeth Kinney		 Miss Oklahoma
2005		 Succeeded by
Jennifer Warren


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