Bainbridge native Abby Killough will soon compete in the Miss Georgia scholarship pageant, for the fourth consecutive year.

The 2012 Miss Georgia pageant will be held at the River Center in Columbus, Ga., June 20-23. The Miss Georgia pageant is associated with the Miss America scholarship pageant. Killough qualified for this year’s Miss Georgia pageant by winning the 2012 Miss Rome pageant.

Previous titles that have qualified Killough for past years’ Miss Georgia pageants include being crowned Miss Southeast Georgia 2011, Miss Savannah River 2010 and Miss Spirit of Georgia 2009. She was also second runner-up in the 2012 Miss University of Georgia pageant and won its “Interview Award.”

Killough, 22, is the daughter of Stan and Beth Killough of Bainbridge.

She was a 2008 honor graduate of Bainbridge High School, where she was a member of the Honor Society, performed in the Girls’ Singing Trio with the Literary Team and participated in the City of Bainbridge’s Student Government Days.

At BHS, Killough received the Alfred A. Rogers Volunteer Service award, the Prudential Spirit of Community award and the Lynwood C. Mock scholarship award.

After studying at Bainbridge College for 1.5 years, she transferred to the University of Georgia in January 2010. She recently received her bachelor’s degree in Communications Sciences and Disorders and is applying to graduate schools to pursue her master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology.

At UGA, Killough was active in the National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association and was a member of the Delta Epsilon Iota Academic Honor Society. She is a member of the National Association of the Deaf.

In 2011, Abby served as a camp coounselor for children who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as hearing children, at Camp D.O.V.E (Deaf Outreach Through Visual Effects), a retreat that provides an opportunity for campers to enjoy a variety of activities like swimming, karate, dance, magic, arts and crafts, talent shows and games.

She recently helped with the Georgia Association for the Deaf’s Deaf Children’s Literacy Benefit Gala in Buckhead, Ga. She recently sang Al Green’s classic song, “Let’s Stay Together,” at the annual Miss Georgia Salute to the Troops concert at Fort Benning in Columbus.

Killough’s platform is the National Association of the Deaf. She’s also very supportive of the Miss America platform, the Children’s Miracle Network, which raises money for children’s hospitals.

Some of the charity benefits she has participated in as Miss Rome included serving pancakes at IHOP and bagging groceries. She sang the National Anthem at a recent Rome (Ga.) Braves minor league baseball game.

Killough hopes to work in the field of speech language pathology — she says she’d like to work for the Georgia School for the Deaf or the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf in the future.