A 17-year-old young woman from Monument is getting ready to represent our state in a national beauty and talent pageant, and Wednesday she had a send-off in her hometown.

Jacqueline Matter will represent Colorado in the U.S. Junior Miss National Pageant in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Before she departs, several in the Monument community gathered together to wish her good luck.

Along with being a pageant contestant, Matter is also a varsity cheerleader at Lewis Palmer High School.

For her platform, Matter chose to focus on helping kids in military families. "Both my dad and my step-dad have been deployed," Matter said, so she knows what military kids must endure.

Matter will head to Denver over the weekend to compete in Colorado's Miss Teen America competition.