Miss New York visits Bayside school

As several dozen sixth and seventh graders piled into the Bell Academy auditorium, their eyes immediately were drawn to the front - to a towering visitor decked in sparking jewels.
Their guest, the 5’11” Miss New York USA Danielle Roundtree, had agreed to stop by the Bayside school to answer the kids’ questions and sing a few songs on Friday, January 11.
In two months, the 20-year-old college student will face off against in the Miss USA Pageant, where she will have to compete in swimsuit, interview, and evening gown competitions.
Her advice to the young girls in the audience - forget the foundation and lipstick.
“Ladies you don’t need makeup,” she said. “You are beautiful.”
After singing several songs on her own, Roundtree offered up the microphone to the students.
Jillian Panagakos, one of several pint-sized songstresses to join Roundtree at the front of the gym, sang one song alone and then joined three other girls for a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”
“I was really scared at first, but then I got used to it,” Panagakos said of taking the stage.
A bashful 11-year-old Lee D’Amato also chimed in for a karaoke-version of the B52’s “Rock Lobster” before kids were allowed to quiz Roundtree about where she grew up, what life as a beauty queen is like and even her Myspace page.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” one intrepid student asked.
Roundtree also answered a few serious questions about her inspiration in life and if she ever wanted to quit - she has been competing in pageants since the age of 10.
The musical beauty from the upper west side of Manhattan said that her mother inspired her to pursue her dream.