From the Choir Room to Atlantic City: Mt. Juliet’s Sandy Elliott Finishes Second in the Nation
For 22 years, Sandy Elliott's job in Mt. Juliet was to stand in front of a room full of teenagers and get them to sing in tune. Last week, the retired Mt. Juliet High School choir director stood on a much bigger stage and came within one placing of a national crown.
Elliott, Ms. Tennessee Senior America 2026, finished as first runner-up at the Ms. Senior America Pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the competition ran Oct. 11-15. She placed second among 44 state champions. Florida's Debbi Miller was crowned the 2026-27 Ms. Senior America.
A second act that started with a nudge
Elliott directed choirs at Mt. Juliet High School from 2001 to 2023. By her own account, pageants were not on her radar until she retired. She was talked into entering the Ms. Wilson County Fair senior pageant, a contest for women 60 and over, in 2023, and she won it.
That first trophy turned into a pattern. At the state level she placed third runner-up and took Ms. Congeniality in 2024, moved up to first runner-up in 2025, and won the Ms. Tennessee Senior America title in 2026. Each step was a clear climb, which is probably the most choir-director way possible to run a pageant career: rehearse, listen to the notes, fix the parts that were flat, and come back stronger.
What the national result means
Second place among 44 state winners is a strong finish by any measure. Elliott said she was thrilled to represent Tennessee as first runner-up, and her pageant director has described her as someone with personality, talent, a social media presence and an education background.
For a community that already knows her from the high school choir room, the result carries a particular kind of pride. Two decades of Mt. Juliet students learned music from her, and the city got to watch a former teacher prove to them that a new chapter can begin well after retirement.
Keep up with Mt. Juliet
Looking for what else is happening around town this week? Our family guide to Mt. Juliet and Lebanon for Oct. 22-28 has the full list, from Halloween in the Park to library story times.
Image: illustrative, AI-generated – not the actual location.
