Miss America's mom is proud of her daughter

Tuesday, January 24th 2006, 6:08 am

By: News On 6

If her daughter is Miss America, then we guess that makes Kay Berry about the proudest mom in America. Kay just got back to Tulsa after her daughter Jennifer won the crown in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Jennifer is still on a whirlwind tour, but News on 6 reporter Steve Berg caught up with the mother of Miss America.

"If you can have the perfect child, I was blessed." Miss Americaâ€™s mom, Kay Berry, says her daughter was always a good, happy kid.

Jennifer danced ballet in Tulsa since she was 8, which served her well later on. You might think beauty pageants were in their blood, but Kay was never involved in one and Jennifer just did her first one on a whim after she was asked by a family friend. "Just asked her one day when she was 17, 'how would you like to try a pageant and she kinda thought, 'huh, I don't have anything going on Saturday, I'll give it a shot.'"

Jennifer took fourth runner-up in Miss Tulsa and took off from there. But Kay was no stage mom. "I said at any given time, if this is not what you want to do, then let's do something else." But she says Jennifer jumped in with both feet. "She is a very dedicated, passionate person, and when she finds something that she wants to do, she puts in 110 percent."

Like all moms, Kay of course thinks her kids can do anything, but she can't help but be amazed. "Because it's a huge, huge venture when you say, 'I want to be Miss America.'"

Already Jennifer's booked on Regis and Letterman and will be in a different city every day for the foreseeable future. "They told us it was going to be fast and furious. Y'know, she did a satellite interview for Good Morning America at 3:30 in the morning Vegas time."

Proud mom, you bet. "But y'know, I was proud of her before Miss Oklahoma, before she was any of her preliminary titles, she's just a blessing."

Kay says Jennifer will take a year off from college, but when she goes back, she'll finish up her degree in education and wants to be a 2nd grade teacher.