Tyra Banks may be a supermodel, but she's not above spilling ketchup on her fingers or braiding her hair at summer camp.
At TZONE, a free, weeklong camp she established to help girls develop self-esteem and leadership skills, Banks is known simply by her camp name: B-B-Q.
"When I first got here, they all looked at me as 'The Supermodel,' " said Banks, 26. "Now, nobody calls me Tyra. Well, sometimes they forget."
The 52 campers, ages 11 to 15, were selected based on essays they wrote about issues teenage girls face.
Banks, the first black model to appear on the cover of GQ magazine and the Sports Illustrated annual swimsuit issue, said she's trying to teach the girls that everyone is beautiful in her own way.
"My family used to call me the ugly duckling that turned into a swan," Banks said last week. "I've always felt quite youthful. I will always stop and talk to young people if they come up to me. Even if I am eating and I have ketchup on my hands."