Cobb County high school grad becomes Miss New York

Miss New York Alyce Zwick grew up in Cobb County. Photo from www.missnyorg.com

A Cobb County high school graduate has gone to make it big in the Big Apple. Alyse Zwick, a 2004 graduate of the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts at Pebblebrook High School, was crowned Miss New York 2009 on Sunday.

“I am so excited, I cannot believe it,” said Zwick, 23. She held the title Miss Teen Cobb County in 2004, and says her time in Pebblebrook’s well-regarded program prepared her well for success.

“My talent for the competition was ballet en pointe,” she said. “My third period ballet class was ballet with Miss Denise (Reeves). She was always pushing me, encouraging me to do my best.”

The Pebblebrook performance schedule helped hone her stage presence, said Zwick, now studying communications at the City University of New York. Her family lived in Cobb County for seven years, moving back to New York after she finished high school. She says she developed a sense of Southern hospitality during her time down South.

“Everyone says it’s my best quality,” said Zwick, who’s now looking forward to competiting in the Miss America pageant. “People say, ‘Are you a Southerner?’ I say I’m a true New Yorker but I grew up in Georgia.”