Angela Perez Baraquio Grey (born June 1, 1976), known professionally by her birth name of Angela Perez Baraquio, is an American educator. She was crowned Miss America 2001 on October 14, 2000, in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

, becoming the first

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

, first

Filipino American Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...

, and first teacher ever to win the pageant. A politically conservative,

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

Catholic, Baraquio has been publicly active in supporting various Republican politicians and in speaking out against abortion. She is also an educator whose platform as

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 ...

was

character education Character education is an umbrella term loosely used to describe the teaching of children and adults in a manner that will help them develop variously as moral, civic, good, mannered, behaved, non-bullying, healthy, critical, successful, traditiona ...

. Since 2004, Baraquio has co-hosted the Hawaiian television show ''Living Local with the Baraquios''.

Early life and education

She is the eighth of ten children (sixth of seven girls) born to an immigrant couple from

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. One of her sisters is Hawaiian media personality Bernadette Baraquio Hamada whose husband is Hawaiian conservative talk radio show host and columnist, Rick Hamada. Baraquio graduated from Moanalua High School in June 1994 ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

''. After graduation, she attended the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

where she graduated in May 1999 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education with an emphasis on speech. Baraquio earned her master's degree in educational administration from the University of Hawaii in December 2004. During her year as Miss America in 2001, Baraquio's platform was

Pageant participation

Baraquio was Miss Hawaii 2000. Subsequently, she was crowned Miss America 2001 on October 14, 2000, in

, becoming the first

, first

, and first teacher ever to win the pageant. She helped host the Miss America 2002 pageant. She has appeared as a panelist on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''Pageant School: Becoming Miss America'' and on the conservative talk show, ''

Hannity ''Hannity'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative television political Talk show, talk program on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity. Episodes air live at 9:00 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, while episodes that ai ...

'', of the

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...

Career

From August 1999 to June 2000, Baraquio was a faculty member at Holy Family Catholic Academy in the

Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

subdivision of Honolulu. She taught physical education, was athletic director and coached basketball, volleyball and track. Baraquio was also choir director of the historic St. Augustine Church in Waikiki. In 2015 Baraquio was appointed principal of St. Anthony of Padua School in

Gardena, California Gardena is a city located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 61,027 at the 2020 census, up from 58,829 at the 2010 census. Until 2014, the U.S. census cited the City of Gardena as the ...

. Baraquio has worked as a celebrity spokesperson for First Hawaiian Bank, First Hawaiian Center, and the Four Seasons hotel in Hawaii. Baraquio and her family live in

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

, California.

Political views and activity

In 2001, Baraquio participated as Miss America in the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., and was acknowledged by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

in his remarks. Bush said, "Angela, it's wonderful to see you again. Thank you for your testimony and your beauty and your grace." In June 2006, President Bush appointed Baraquio to the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, where she served until November 2008. In 2003, Baraquio hosted a series of television shows for Governor Linda Lingle ( R-

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

), called ''Talk Story with Your Administration'', showcasing activities and individuals of the Lingle Administration. She was one of Senator

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...

's (R-

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

) earliest and most prominent supporters in the 2008 Republican presidential primary season. She formally joined the Brownback campaign December 14, 2006, and served on his presidential exploratory committee, where her main task was promoting the conservative Kansas senator in her native Hawaii. She said she was drawn to the senator's strong opposition to

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. Baraquio said, "As a Catholic, I am proud to support this wonderful man who believes in the sanctity of every human life." On January 20, 2007, Baraquio introduced Brownback at his presidential campaign kick-off event in Kansas. In her remarks, Baraquio said Brownback "is a man we can trust to take our values to the White House." Brownback withdrew from the presidential race on October 19, 2007, before any primary contests. Baraquio remains active in speaking out against abortion. CMG Booking an agency which specializes in booking prominent conservative Catholics for public speaking engagements, books Baraquio for events. On her page on CMG's website, Baraquio lists "Pro-life issues" among her speaking topics.

Media appearances

*Appeared as a guest on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'' *Appeared as a panelist on ESPN's ''2 Minute Drill'' *Appeared on ''Behind Closed Doors with Joan Lunden'' on A&E *Game show participant on **'' Wheel of Fortune'' **''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'', later stylized as ''H2: Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show originally aired as a ...

'' ** ''Pyramid''

References

External links

Official websiteBiography
at Miss America Organization *
''Living Local with the Baraquios'' Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baraquio, Angela Perez 1976 births Living people 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Roman Catholics American anti-abortion activists American politicians of Filipino descent American sportspeople of Filipino descent American volleyball coaches American women's basketball coaches Asian conservatism in the United States Catholics from California Catholics from Hawaii American female sports coaches George W. Bush administration personnel Hawaii Republicans Miss America 2001 delegates Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners Miss America winners People from Anaheim, California People from Pangasinan Roman Catholic activists Sportspeople from Honolulu University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Women in Hawaii politics 21st-century American sportswomen