DAPHNE, Ala. — Bayside Academy sophomore Courtney Parker had an exciting weekend — she was named Miss Alabama Teen 2008 Saturday at Samford University in Birmingham.

“I was totally shocked, I had no idea,” Courtney said in a phone interview Monday. “I was just having a good time, I wasn’t thinking about winning.”

The pageant — part of the Miss USA pageant system — had 24 participants this year. The event comprised four categories: the interview, evening gown, swimsuit and the on-stage question, Sandra, her mother, said.

Each contestant spent individual time with five judges, so they could learn about the participant, Sandra said.

Courtney’s on-stage question — the category near the end of the pageant — was: “How do you know when you’re an adult?”

“I said, ‘When you make the right decisions for the right reasons and your parents don’t have to tell you, because you know it’s morally correct,’ ” Courtney said, recalling her answer.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Being Miss Alabama Teen 2008 will allow the 15-year-old to work with other teenagers and promote positive messages.

Courtney said she and her friends have planned a parody of the musical “Grease” that aims to help high-school students handle peer pressure and underage drinking.

“We knew we wanted to go to middle schools and elementary schools across Alabama,” Courtney said.

“For kids to pick up on the message we knew that we would have to do in a fun way,” she said, referring to the popularity of “Grease,” the musical that spawned the classic 1978 film, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

“What I think is most important to her is to work with other kids and to make a difference in their lives,” Sandra said.

“It (the Miss Alabama Teen title) will give her a chance to have a microphone to speak about what really matters to her,” she said.

But the teen was passionate about community service long before Saturday’s crowning.

Courtney does mission work with her church, Daphne United Methodist Church.

For the past three years, she has traveled to Ecuador, where she helped build a school, a church and a house, she said.

“We go to very poor places, we work with the kids and teach them Bible stories,” Courtney said.

She also is involved with fine arts. The teen is a member of the Mobile Ballet Company and has performed “The Nutcracker” more times than she can count, she said.

Every Christmas they perform the ballet six times, she said. “It adds up over the years; I’ve probably performed it more than 20 times.”

THE DRESS

The Parkers went to La Casa Hermosa in Wellington, Fla., after doing research on where to find a dress, Sandra said.

“I knew it was the one when I tried it on,” Courtney said of the Claire’s Collection gown. “I didn’t want to try on any others but they (her mother and the store owner) made me, because it was the first one I tried on.”

The sky-blue silk evening gown had Swarovski crystals on the bodice and a sweetheart neckline, she said. The dress had a ruffled-filled slit at the bottom.

“We wanted something that was teen-looking and fun and flirty — that’s where the ruffles came from,” Sandra said.

Courtney also wore blue, dangling earrings.

To finish her look, she wore 5-inch Leone heels with rhinestones on the top, she said.

“They weren’t the most comfortable and it was hard,” Courtney said. “It’s hard when everyone has a train and someone could step on it any time.”

The dress made her daughter sparkle but Mom was more touched by the crown.

“It’s just a fairy tale come true, when your child wins,” Sandra said.

Courtney will compete in the Miss Teen USA pageant next year.

OTHER WINNERS AT THE PAGEANT:

First runner up: Emily Busby, Pelham

Second runner-up: Kaitlin Jones, Andalusia

Third runner-up and Miss Photogenic: Hannah Saylor, Russellville

Fourth runner-up: Sydney King, Dothan