Jennifer Berry-Gooden (born July 18, 1983) is an American

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

titleholder who was crowned

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 ...

on January 21, 2006. A resident of

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, at the time of her investment to sovereignty of

beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes them pleasure, pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, art and taste are the main subjects of aesthetics, one of the fie ...

, she became the fifth Miss America from Oklahoma to have held the title.

Early life and education

Berry was born in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. She graduated from Jenks High School in 2001, and attended the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

with a major in

elementary education Primary education is the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle schools, de ...

. 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 The Miss Oklahoma competition selects a winner to compete on behalf of Oklahoma in the Miss America pageant. Miss Oklahoma has won the Miss America crown on five occasions. Also, in the years when city representatives were common, Norma Smallw ...

2005 title in a state pageant held at

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

on June 11, 2005. She competed as Miss Grand Lake 2005 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 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 ...

in the Miss America 2006 pageant broadcast from the Theatre for the Performing Arts on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...

during January 21, 2006, the first occasion the pageant was held outside of

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 ...

. During the preliminary competitions Berry won a preliminary talent award for her

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

en pointe Because ballet became formalized in France, a significant part of ballet terminology is in the French language. A À la seconde () (Literally "to second") If a step is done "à la seconde", it is done to the side. 'Second position'. It can also ...

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 as 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 Miss America's Teen is an American scholarship pageant. It is the sister program to the Miss America Opportunity, and it aims to "promote scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement for America's teen ...

pageant held in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

Personal life

She is a member of the

Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ, also commonly known as the Church of Christ, is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations located around the world. Typically, their distinguishing beliefs are that of the necessity of baptism for salvation ...

. She currently lives in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. On April 28, 2007, she married Nathan Gooden in her hometown of Tulsa.Robin Leach
"Jennifer Berry -- Her Final Interview as Miss America"
on VegasPop, 2007 January 29.

References

External links

Miss America 2006

1983 births Living people American members of the Churches of Christ Miss America winners Miss America 2006 delegates Models from Houston People from Tulsa, Oklahoma University of Oklahoma alumni Miss America Preliminary Talent winners {{Oklahoma-stub