Amanda Kozak-Miliner (born July 28, 1984) is a pageant titleholder and educator from

Warner Robins, Georgia Warner Robins (WRB; typically ) is a city in Houston County, Georgia, Houston and Peach County, Georgia, Peach Counties in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the state's Georgia (U.S. state)#Major cities, 11th-largest incorpo ...

who competed in the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

and

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020. ...

pageants. She is also the 2015 Georgia Teacher of the Year.

Pageants

Miss America

Kozak first competed in the Miss Georgia pageant in 2004 where she won a preliminary evening wear award made the top eleven. The following year representing as Miss Warner Robins 2005 she placed first runner-up to Monica Pang. Kozak represented Georgia in the Miss National Sweetheart pageant, a competition for Miss America state runners-up, in September 2005, and placed first runner-up. In June 2006, after winning the Miss Valdosta 2006 local title, Kozak competed in the Miss Georgia pageant. She won preliminary awards in both the evening gown and swimsuit competitions and was crowned Miss Georgia 2006 on June 25, 2006. Her platform for the state pageant was "Positive Role Models Through Mentoring". Kozak represented

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the

2007 pageant held in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

on 29 January 2007 and placed second runner-up to

Lauren Nelson Lauren Paige Nelson (born November 26, 1986) is a beauty queen from Lawton, Oklahoma who holds the Miss America 2007 title. Nelson is the second consecutive Miss America and sixth in the history of Miss America to hail from this state. Early li ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. This was the second consecutive year that Georgia placed in the top three, as Pang had placed first runner-up at Miss America 2006. Kozak's talent was a

tap dance Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its ow ...

performance, and her platform issue was Mentoring with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Organization. She was also a finalist for the Quality of Life award. Kozak was given the key to the city of

Valdosta Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As the principal city of the Valdosta metropolitan statistical area, which in 2023 had a metropolitan population of 151,118, according to the US Census B ...

by mayor John Fretti and signs were erected in Valdosta congratulating her on her win.

Miss USA

On November 10, 2007, she was crowned

Miss Georgia USA The Miss Georgia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Georgia in the Miss USA pageant. This pageant is directed Greenwood Productions under the ownership of Miss Tennessee USA 1989 Kim Greenwood and i ...

2008, the first Georgian to win both state Miss America and Miss USA state titles. She represented Georgia at the

Miss USA 2008 Miss USA 2008 was the 57th Miss USA pageant, held at The AXIS in Paradise, Nevada, on April 11, 2008. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Crystle Stewart of Texas was crowned the winner by outgoing titleholder Rachel Smith of T ...

pageant held on April 18 in

. She did not place in the pageant, which was won by

Crystle Stewart Crystle Stewart Sebrechts ( Stewart) (born September 20, 1981) is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder. Stewart began her acting career in 2011, when she played real estate agent Leslie Morris on the OWN/ TBS comedy-drama televisi ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Georgia Teacher of the Year

On May 16, 2014, Amanda Miliner (previously Kozak) was named the 2015 Georgia Teacher of the Year at the annual banquet ceremony. The Georgia Teacher of the Year serves as an advocate for public education in Georgia.

Personal life

Kozak's parents were both in the military, and she stayed with friends in Georgia while they were simultaneously deployed, including a one-year deployment in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. She is a graduate of

Warner Robins High School Warner Robins High School is a high school in Warner Robins, Georgia, United States. It was established in 1944 and enrolls approximately 1,690 students. The mascot, the Demon, was originally adopted during World War II in honor of the 7th Fig ...

, has a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from

Valdosta State University Valdosta State University (VSU or Valdosta State) is a public university in Valdosta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1906, it launched in 1913 as an all-girls college. VSU is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System ...

. At the time she held the Miss Georgia title, she was working as a third-grade teacher.

References

External links

Miss Georgia USA official websiteMiss Warner Robins official websiteGeorgia Teacher of the Year program official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozak, Amanda Miss America 2007 delegates Miss USA 2008 delegates Valdosta State University alumni Living people 1984 births People from Warner Robins, Georgia