Surrounded by eighth-grade girls at lunch Tuesday, Miss America 2009 Katie Stam fielded questions about everything from boyfriends to having photographers take so many pictures of her since winning the title.

Stam, 23, smiled and told the Baton Rouge Lutheran School students that she has a boyfriend.

Stam also said she didn’t mind photographers taking her picture at events, but she would have a hard time dealing with paparazzi who follow popular actors.

“She’s been very nice and easy to talk to,” said eighth-grader Jenna Schmiedling after lunch.

Schmiedling, who told Stam she wanted to be a registered nurse when she left college, sat next to the national pageant winner.

Stam visited Pre-K to eighth-grade students at Baton Rouge Lutheran School Tuesday, starting off with a speech about being Miss America.

Following the assembly, Stam sang the song she sang in the talent part of the pageant — “Via Dolorosa” by Sandi Patti.

After a question-and-answer session with students, Stam had a jambalaya lunch with the eighth-graders and spent the afternoon with those students visiting pediatric patients at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.

Stam broke out her sparkling crown out of a box to quite a few “oohs” and “ahhs,” during a speech inside Trinity Lutheran Church.

“This is just an object. It’s just a material thing. It can break. What it stands for can’t be broken,” Stam told the crowd of students.

Stam said the crown and the title represent dreams, goals, perseverance and hard work.

Stam, who grew up in Seymour, Ind., and represented that state during the Miss America pageant in January, told the students they don’t have to be Miss America to be a role model to their family and friends.

She knew she wanted to be Miss America since she was 3 years old. Stam told students they can dream big, too, but they need a plan to achieve that dream.

 “I knew I needed to get a good education, needed to get involved and find a way to give back to the community,” Stam said.

She also shared some of the interesting events she has attended as a result of her title, including the 2009 Super Bowl and 2009 Oscars as well as meeting President Barack Obama and touring the White House.

The strain of travel also came up during the question-and-answer period.

Stam said she has lived in hotels for the past eight months, eaten three meals a day in restaurants, and boarded 111 planes.

“I don’t stay in a hotel longer than 18 to 36 hours. I miss my bed at home,” Stam told the students.

But those all are small sacrifices, she said.

“Only 84 women have ever been named Miss America, so it is quite an honor,” Stam said.