Jena Sims Biography

Jena Michelle Sims (born December 30, 1988) is an American actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who has held the Miss National Junior Teenager title and competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant in 2007.

She has been widely recognized for her work with various charities, including her own organization "Pageant of Hope".

Biography

Early life and education

Sims grew up in Winder, Georgia and graduated from Winder-Barrow High School in 2007. She briefly attended Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she studied International Business. Jena is currently in Hollywood, California pursuing a career in modeling and acting. She stars in the 2012 film, Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader.

Pageants

In 2004, Sims was crowned Miss Georgia Junior National Teenager and later won the Miss Junior National Teenager title 2005.

A year later, Sims won the Miss Georgia Teen USA 2007 title in a state pageant held in Newnan on 11 November 2006. It was her second attempt at the title, as she placed in the semi-finals in the 2006 event. She was crowned by outgoing titleholder Brittany Sharp, who placed fourth runner-up in the Miss Teen USA pageant in August.

Sims represented Georgia in the Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant broadcast live from Pasadena, California in August 2007, but did not place. She was the first Miss Georgia Teen USA not to place in the pageant since 2003.

Charity work

Sims runs a non-profit organization that hosts beauty pageants for children with cancer and other disadvantages called the "Pageant of Hope". The pageants have been held in Winder, Tennessee, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, California and she will be expanding into South Carolina.

In 2006 she received a Southern Hero award, and won a Prudential Spirit of Community award in 2003. In 2006 she was honored with an award from the Caring Institute in Washington DC, recognizing her work with children with cancer. The following year she was one of twenty-seven American teenagers given the "Nestle Very Best In Youth" award for her community service.

Her Pageant of Hope has also been awarded numerous State and National Community Service awards such as The Nestle Very Best in Youth National Award, BRICK Do Something National Award and the Prudential Spirit of Community Bronze and Silver medallion. She has been named a Georgia Young Entrepreneur by NFIB, a WXIA Kids Who Care winner, and a Huggable Hero by Maxine Clark and Build a Bear Workshop.

Acting

Her first role was the main role of Cassie in Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader (2012).

Filmography

• Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader (2012)
• Last Vegas (2013)
• Kill the Messenger (2014)
• 3-Headed Shark Attack (2015).
• American Beach House (2015)