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A Star-Herald Publication
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Overview of Miss America pageant Since 1921, young women have vied for the chance to be crowned Miss America. This year’s pageant will be Sunday, Sept. 15, in Atlantic City, N.J., and aired on ABC. Miss America is a spokesperson using her title to educate millions of Americans on an issue of importance to herself
and society at large. The young woman crowned Miss America will travel more than 20,000 miles a month, while suppor ting her ideals and helping others. Every young woman in every state of America has the opportunity to become Miss America. Following are young
women throughout the ferty — Scottsbluff years from Nebraska and 1967 Patricia Martinez Wyoming areas that — Torrington have achieved their state 1953 Elaine Holkentitles and gone on to brink — Torrington compete for Miss America. Miss Nebraska 2013 -1925 Miss Wyoming 2013 JaCee Pilkington 2013-1932 — Minatare 2012 Lexie Madden — 2012 Mariah Cook — Torrington Chadron 2007 Jennifer McCaf2011Kayla Batt — Al-
liance 2010 Teresa Scanlan — Gering 2007 Ashley Bauer — Scottsbluff 1971 Sally Lou Warner — Bushnell Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan —Gering
Photo by Diane Wetzell/World-Herald News Service
JaCee Pilkington is crowned as Miss Nebraska 2013 during the final evening competition at North Platte High School. Pilkington is a Minatare native and was Miss Western Nebraska. Her platform is Operation Remember Me.
Pilkington: Ready to take on Miss America By MAUNETTE LOEKS New Media Editor
As Miss Nebraska 2013, Minatare resident JaCee Pilkington said she is ready to compete in the Miss America Pageant. Pilkington is set to start competing and participating in preliminary activities on Sept. 9. The pageant, which returns to Atlantic City, N.J., this year, will air on Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. (ET). She arrived on Sept. 3 and will participate in a variety of pre-pageant events, including attending a Blondie concert and a Philadelphia Phillies game. “In the beginning, it was A lot of people didn’t nerve-wracking, thinking think that I would return to about competing in the Miss America pageant,” pageants. But, I did, and I decided to give it my all. You Pilkington said. “Now, I’m just ready. I’m ready to go, have to sacrifice a lot of I’m ready to get started things to compete in and I’m ready for it now.” As a teenager, Pilkingpageants, but I have enjoyed ton became interested in the experience. competing in pageants after being approached by ~ JaCee Pilkington Janie Scanlan, the mother of former Miss Nebraska and Miss America Teresa Scanlan. The Scanlan and Pilkington families both attended WestWay Christian Church and Janie Scanlan told Pilkington she should compete in pageants after hearing her sing. “At first, for me, pageants were just a big talent show,” she said. “I love to sing and I could wear a pretty dress while doing it.” She competed in her first pageant in 2008, winning the Miss Scotts Bluff County Fair Teen Queen. In 2009, she won the Miss Outstanding Teen competition and competed in Orlando, Fla. After taking about three years off, she competed in the Miss Western Nebraska pageant, which made her eligible to compete Courtesy of G. Stansbery Images for Miss Nebraska. “A lot of people didn’t think that I would return to pageants,” JaCee Pilkington is crowned Miss Outstanding Teen in 2009,
“
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one of the first pageants that led her down the road to
See PILKINGTON, page 3 competing for the Miss America title.
Pilkington’s parents offer support By LOGAN ALLEN Staff Reporter
The day JaCee Pilkington was crowned Miss Nebraska will be a day her parents, Jess and Joni, will never forget. “I had some advice from a friend who is the mother of a past Miss Nebraska,” said Joni. “When they announced the winner, she told me to really look around at your family and to really take it all in. I concentrated on that, and I looked at Jess and my mom, and I looked at our other daughter, JaLee.” “It seems ever since she was a little girl, I guess I always thought she would get to a place where maybe something like this would happen. It’s kind of like a movie reel of all the things you can remember since she was a little girl, from singing for the Kiwanis to winning,” said Jess. It took a lot of work to earn the crown, and now the real work has set in. Along with her duties as Miss Nebraska, she has been prepping for the Miss America pageant. But it’s a good thing for JaCee. She thrives when she’s busy, said Jess. The pageant committee sets up some of her appearances, but she is responsible for booking additional appearances and planning her schedule. At the beginning of August, JaCee paid a visit to the Madonna Recovery Hospital in Lincoln. The majority of the children at the hospital are victims of accidents, and it was a particularly moving experience for her. “She said she went out to the car and she had to sit there for a long time and cry. She said a lot of these kids are so happy, and they have the best attitude. There was this little girl that wouldn’t stop kissing her. She just hung on her,” said Joni. In the few weeks she has held the Miss Nebraska title, she has been on the run constantly, traveling in and out of town. Even the family’s golden retriever, Charlie, has become used to the bustle. “He loves being around everybody,” said Jess. “I laugh because every time we would bring out the suitcases that dog knows we’re leaving and he would start moping around. But there’s been so many suitcases lying around the house, he doesn’t even care anymore, he just steps over them.” The opportunity, as well as the responsibility, that comes with her title is something she is thankful for, and something she doesn’t take lightly. “We were talking late one night, and she said to me, ‘Dad, it’s important to me, as Miss Nebraska, that every time somebody meets me that I’m showing them my best side, because this is their first impression of Miss Nebraska.’ I thought that’s taking your job seriously,” said Jess. JaCee’s platform is Operation Remember Me, which encourages the recognition and support of veterans. Other than her paternal grandfather, who was a World War II veteran, she doesn’t have any other veterans in her family. And so her passion for the cause is due largely to her own convictions. JaCee has volunteered for many veterans programs, and she has always been surprised that many of the veterans’ events weren’t well attended. “She would always sing for the Memorial Day services out at the cemetery, and I think working for Sen. (Mike) Johanns last summer really made her think about veterans.” While working for Sen. Johanns in Washington, D.C., she liked to run through the National Mall. One day, she noticed a man sitting in front of the World War II Memorial wall of stars. He was sobbing uncontrollably. Because of the patches on his shirt, JaCee knew he was a veteran. “She ran up to him and shook his hand and told him thank you for his service, and he said that was the first time anybody had ever told him that,” said Joni. See PARENTS, page 2
Friends and educators reflect on Pilkington’s character By JOE DUTTON Staff Reporter
In her first year of competing for the Miss Nebraska title, JaCee Pilkington couldn’t have made it this far without the support she has received from others. Pilkington was named Miss Nebraska after her first competition in North Platte last June. Pilkington initially entered into the pageantry realm in 2009 and won the Miss Nebraska Outstanding Teen Competition. During time off from the pageant circuit, Pilkington has attended Doane College in Crete, for the past three years with the original intent in becoming a doctor, but now has become a double major in political
science and business. “Now a political science major planning to attend law school, my future plans have taken definite unexpected turns,” she said. Pilkington has taken this school year off in order to enter into the Miss Nebraska competition. This ultimately won her the crown to move on to the Miss America competition in Atlantic City, N.J., and plans to graduate in 2015. After winning the crown, Pilkington was not the only one excited to win this year as her college professors and friends shared in the excitement of her recently donned tiara and title. One such college instructor was Tim Hill, an associate professor of political sci-
ence at Doane College. He said he is excited for Pilkington and even recalled jumping around his kitchen a little bit when he had heard she had won. “I watched how hard she worked for this all last year, and I know it’s a dream come true for her,” he said. “Frankly, it could not have happened to a nicer, more gracious person.” Hill said that, in almost every way, Pilkington is the opposite of the “beauty queen” stereotype, since she is intelligent, mature and a force to be reckoned with. This month, Hill hopes to see Pilkington win the Miss America crown and also be successful beyond her graduation from college. Hill said he anticipates she will find a
career and a life that she finds fulfilling and rewarding outside of her pageant career. “JaCee Pilkington will succeed at anything she wants to do, full stop,” he said. “If she decided she wanted to be the first person on Mars, she would find a way to do it.” Hill said he has not met a faculty member at the college who isn’t fond of Pilkington or glad to see her on the class roster at the beginning of the semester. This claim holds true with Doane College assistant professor Wendy Hind who had Pilkington in her constitutional law class. Hind said Pilkington has grown enormously as a scholar, especially in her classroom. “It was a very demanding course,” she See FRIENDS, page 3
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Pageant Queens: Then and Now
Star-Herald
Pageant director looks back at 15 years By BRANDON NELSON Staff Reporter
With all of the success the Scotts Bluff County Fair Pageant has seen through the years, it’s hard to believe that, for a time, the event’s future was hanging in the balance. The pageant’s founding coordinators stepped down in 1998, shortly after Cheryl Engelhaupt’s daughter, Angela, claimed the Miss Scotts Bluff County Fair Queen title. At that point, Engelhaupt said there was little hope of a “next year” for the pageant. But her daughter wanted to pass her crown along to the next deserving young lady and Engelhaupt felt encouraged to step up and take on the role of pageant director. That was 15 years ago and Engelhaupt’s decision to take the reins has changed the course of the annual event. The program has since grown into western Nebraska’s largest scholarship program for young women, awarding about $3,000 in scholarships every year. “When I started, I told myself I was only going to do it for one year, but I just got so attached to it,” she said. “(Scotts Bluff County) has been good to us and this program has been very blessed.” The 2013 pageant concluded on Aug. 3 at the Midwest Theater and Miss Scotts Bluff County Fair Queen Brittli Sell and Teen Queen Allyson Baird took home the tiaras. The two, new queens are among the 150-plus young ladies Engelhaupt and her team have helped pursue their dream of competing for the Scotts Bluff County Fair, Miss Nebraska and Miss America titles. Through the years of working with the girls, Engelhaupt said some of her favorite memories come from watching the contest-
Courtesy photo
Wendi Callenius, left, Lanette Richards, Jody Ziegler, Kyla Ansley, Cheryl Engelhaupt, Misty Stauffer, Heather Hayes and Jodie Shaske have worked together to coordinate the past six Scotts Bluff County Fair pageants. Engelhaupt, the pageant director, is celebrating her 15th year with the program.
ants grow and mature. “I’ve seen a lot of things change. Some of the girls started out so young and they have so much talent that they’ve really taken the pageant to the next level,” she said. Engelhaupt is part of an eightperson committee that has worked together to coordinate the past six years of pageants.
From watching Teresa Scanlan take the Miss America title to seeing JaCee Pilkington claim the Miss Nebraska crown, Engelhaupt, Misty Stauffer, Lanette Richards, Jody Ziegler, Jodie S h a s k e , We n d i C a l l e n i u s , Heather Hayes and Kyla Ansley have rallied tirelessly behind the girls with the goal of helping them fulfill their dreams.
“We have so many talented ladies and I’ve become so passionate about working with them,” said Stauffer, who has served on the pageant committee for eight years. “Every single person on the committee shares that passion and everyone works really hard to help the girls grow and succeed.” Engelhaupt echoed Stauffer’s
thoughts, stating that the committee has always remained focused on encouraging young women to have fun and achieve their goals while pursuing scholarships to further their education. “We have a wonderful, wonderful committee,” she said. “They all do so much. Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
PARENTS: Offer Pilkington support Continued from page 1 Courtesy photo
The encounter stayed with her and further inspired her to choose a platform that benefited veterans. Following the Miss America Pageant, whether she wins or not, her parents think she could have a future in politics. Sen. Amanda McGill has already become a mentor of hers, and she has had a keen interest in politics even befor e becoming Miss Nebraska. “She’s a night owl. She’ll stay up till one, two, three in the morning reading. We got her a subscription to the World-Herald, and she was cutting articles and pasting them into this spiral notebook and writing notes,” said Jess. When he asked JaCee what she was doing, she said, “This is how I keep track of events, this is how I know what’s going on.” “She’s a political nerd,” said Joni with a laugh. “That’s what she likes to do, believe it or not.”
JaCee Pilkington’s family gathers for a photo to celebrate JaCee winning Miss Outstanding Teen.
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PILKINGTON: Ready to take on Miss America pageant Continued from page 1 she said. “But, I did, and I decided to give it my all. You have to sacrifice a lot of things to compete in pageants, but I have enjoyed the experience.� She said she also enjoyed representing her beloved Panhandle as Miss Western Nebraska and winning the Miss Nebraska title. “I am so grateful to be from the Panhandle and to represent us. There isn’t a place like it.� Pilkington has taken the year off from Doane College and competing in her beloved sport, golf, to compete in pageants and for her reign as Miss Nebraska. Cheryl Engelhaupt, director of the Scotts Bluf f County Fair Pageant, is among the “multitude of women who has helped get me to where I am today. She helped me get my start and my footing about what the Miss America Organization was about.� Her local director, Heather Hayes, has been a great resource for her through the years, she said. Hayes has been a big support as she raised funds for the Miss America pageant and has become a friend. “She has been the main person behind me, helping me with whatever I need, setting up mock interviews and getting me dresses. Any girl who has her as a pageant director is lucky to have her.� Out of her pageant life, Pilkington has a lot going for her. After competition, she’ll return to Doane, where she will be a senior majoring in political science and business. Pilkington was also involved in the college’s music program. Pilkington will also work for the Nebraska Attorney General’s office as a mediator. She says the attorney general’s office has been generous in working around her Miss Nebraska schedule and delaying her start date. She looks forward to working with the attorney general’s office, which she said would be a good experience as she anticipates going into a law career. Pilkington’s interest in law came after working as an intern for Sen. Mike Johanns over a recent summer. During her stint there, she said she learned about presenting information in an educated manner and the importance of being up-to-date on current events. Her experience didn’t only benefit her in the career
Courtesy photo
JaCee Pilkington poses with her family members during the Miss Nebraska 2013 competition at North Platte High School.
realm, but in the pageant world. “I’m not sure I would have won Miss Nebraska if it wasn’t for that experience,� she said, saying that it contributed to her poise and knowledge of base interviews. Readying for Miss America has been a whirlwind of activity. Her Miss Nebraska directors, Jay and Amy Engel, and the Miss Nebraska board, have been helping her prepare. Preparation has included traveling throughout the United States. T rips to Kansas City, Tulsa, Okla., and Tampa, Fla., are just some of the places she has checked off the list for practice interviews and
other tasks to ready for the pageant. “It’s a whole dif ferent ball game, but it’s been exciting,� she said. The Miss America Organization is one of the biggest organizations to make a difference in the lives of young women like Pilkington and creates opportunity for them to pursue their dreams, she said. Scholarships won through the pageant have helped her through school and she said that she knows of other young women who have been able to make it through college with little or no debt. Last year,
the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. “If you have a stereotypical view of the Miss America pageant, it’s because you do not know about it or you haven’t done your research,� she said, saying that she pays little mind to persons who criticize the competition’s evening gown or swimsuit competitions that “are part of the pomp and circumstance of pageants.� With other women from the Panhandle having been success-
ful in pageants, including Scanlan, Pilkington said she has experienced a lot of support in her pageant endeavors, from her college professors to strangers on the street. “Our community has come to understand what the Miss America Organization and associated pageants are centered on,� she said, saying that she is more fortunate than others who come from different areas of the state and compete. “The skills you learn are always transferable to any career. It is one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done in my life.�
FRIENDS: And educators reflect on Pilkington’s character Continued from page 1 said. “She worked extremely hard in it and earned every grade she received. I could always tell she was prepared for class and her contributions were always helpful in generating inclass discussions.� Quint Geis, a college friend of Pilkington, has known her since Pilkington was a freshman. They both resided in the Hansen residence hall and became friends through participating in the Directions Leadership Program. Geis said they had become friends because they were both very involved with the college and would often have choir and student congress together. “She is such a people person and I believe we have such a strong friendship because we are very similar,� he said. “We face similar struggles and often can find support in
each other.� Geis described Pilkington as a strong, kind and Christ-centered person. Once people get to know her they will see there is more to her then her beauty. “She is loving to those around her and has a big heart,� he said. “When you need support, you can turn to her. JaCee fights to do what is right and that is something I have always admired about her.� After Pilkington had won
the Miss Nebraska contest, Geis said he knew Pilkington had the ability to win and sometimes things work out, but was beyond glad when she gained the title of Miss Nebraska. “It has been such a blessing to watch JaCee grow through this experience and I know that she has leaned on God and he has done great things,� he said. Pilkington said she knows she would not be in the position she is in today if it were not for the friend-
ships that she had made at Doane College with professors helping her every step of the way toward her true passion in life. “God blessed me with friendships that encourage and lift me up on a continual basis,� she said.
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Star-Herald
Former pageant winners talk life lessons, advice for Pilkington Miss Wyoming 2012 Lexie Madden Lexie Madden, 22, was born in Scottsbluff and raised in Torrington, Wyo. She graduated from Torrington High School and attended Sheridan College on a volleyball scholarship. She then transferred to the University of Wyoming where she is pursing a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and health promotion. She will graduate with her bachelor’s degree in December and plans to apply to occupational therapy school to become an occupational therapist with a focus in pediatrics. When she was a senior in high school, she was Wyoming’s Junior Miss 2009. Her mother was also Wyoming’s Junior Miss exactly 25 years before her. She was crowned Miss Wyoming 2012. From there, she competed on the Miss America stage in January 2013 where she received the title of Third Runner Up. She is currently an occupational therapy intern at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver. What was your experience like as a pageant winner? “I was proud and excited to have had the opportunity to represent my state at the national level. I had so much help and support leading up to the Miss America competition and I really wanted to do my best because of Courtesy photo
Lexie Madden, right, visits a friend in Seattle.
See MADDEN, page 6
Miss Nebraska 2011 Kayla Batt Kayla Batt, 23, was born in Scottsbluff and grew up in Alliance. She graduated from Alliance High School in 2008 and is attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a senior studying English. She served as Miss Nebraska’s Outstanding Teen in 2007 as well as Miss Nebraska in 2011. She was voted Miss Congeniality at three national pageants, including Miss America’s Outstanding Teen, The National Sweetheart Pageant as well as at Miss America. She lives in Lincoln where she is a full-time student at UNL. She teaches piano lessons and works at a daycare on the side. She will graduate in May 2014 and from there hopes to continue her schooling at the university, working toward her doctorate degree. Because she couldn’t bear being completely done with the whole pageant world, she is serving as the assistant director of the Miss Nebraska’s Outstanding Teen Organization. In addition to all of that, she is recently engaged to the love of her life and will take the next year to plan the wedding of her dreams. What was your experience like as a pageant winner? “More than anything these awards and honors have shaped me into the woman I have grown into. Throughout each experience competing, I was able to grow, performing my talent, learn life skills in interviewing, as well as gain amazing friends and a support system. Being voted Miss Congeniality by my peers and fellow competitors is the greatest honor I could ask for. I have been so humbled by the joys of winning this title, because, for me, it means I took away far more than a crown or a title but wonderful friends. Throughout my year as Miss Nebraska, I faced many challenges and through those I was able to develop as an adult and truly learn who I was and what I was striving for out of life. I met some of the most respectful and intelligent people throughout all of my years
competing and will forever be grateful for my home, my family and my support throughout all of my years chasing my dreams.” What are your career plans? “I will be applying for graduate school this fall in hopes to earn both my master’s and doctorate degrees in English. I spent a couple of years not knowing what I wanted to do ‘when I grew up,’ but after taking a year off of school to dedicate myself to Miss Nebraska, I came back with an open mind and heart and really feel this is the path for me. I will be concentrating in rhetoric and composition within the English department and hope to eventually teach at a collegiate level. I have to laugh when telling people how many years of school I’m still in for.” Do people still recognize you on the street? “Unfortunately, I’m not quite a celebrity of the state, but it is great going back to the small towns I traveled to throughout my year as Miss Nebraska and have people ask about my journey after the crown. I have realized that when it’s a pageant event, whether local or at the national level, I do have a handful of people who recognize me or, at least my name, which is still quite an honor!” Do you have a message or advice for JaCee Pilkington, the newly crowned Miss Nebraska? “I’ve had the opportunity to watch JaCee grow in this system as she is a former Miss Nebraska’s Outstanding Teen. My advice to her as Miss Nebraska is to listen to each person that speaks to her — intently, whole-heartedly and carefully. As she approaches competition time in Atlantic City, I advise her to sleep as often as possible and have fun! This opportunity won’t come around again and it would be a shame to let it go down in history as anything less than an absolute blast!”
Courtesy photo
Kayla Batt, right, poses with the current Miss Nebraska’s Outstanding Teen Samantha Washington.
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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2013 5
Former pageant winners talk life lessons, advice for Pilkington
Courtesy photo
Ashley Bauer with her parents, Gary and Marcia. AP
For Miss Nebraska Teresa Scanlan waves to the audience after being crowned Miss America 2011 during the Miss America pageant in January 2011, in Las Vegas.
Miss America 2011 and Miss Nebraska 2010 Teresa Scanlan Teresa Scanlan, 20, grew up in Gering, where she went to high school until transferring to Scottsbluff, where she graduated. She was named Miss Nebraska in 2010 and went on to become Miss America in 2011, becoming the youngest Miss America since Bette Cooper in 1937. She is studying government full time at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Va., working full time and traveling as a public speaker and pageant coach. What was your experience like as a pageant winner? “With Miss Nebraska, I always said when I gradu-
ate I’m getting out of here. I didn’t want anything to do with Nebraska or my hometown, but being Miss Nebraska and traveling around meant falling in love with the state. It changed my perspective about my hometown, my home state and now I want nothing more than to represent the people of Nebraska. I think being able to represent the state gives you that kind of perspective. It completely changed everything.” What are your career plans? “Law school, then move back to Gering and go into politics, representing the 3rd District.”
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Do people still recognize you on the street? “ H o n e s t l y, y e s . O f course, not frequently and not all the time, but inevitably it’s the times when you look your worst, like after working out. Not when you’re all done up in your makeup. But it’s fun.” Do you have a message or advice for JaCee Pilkington, the newly crowned Miss Nebraska? “Probably something the new title holder hears a lot, is that it goes by so fast. It really does. All of a sudden, it’s gone. Decide on the things you want to do. Take the initiative. Don’t put things off.”
Miss Nebraska 2007 Ashley Bauer Ashley Bauer, 28, was born in Scottsbluff, went to Scottsbluf f High School and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is now in her last year of medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. So far, she has received her Bachelor of Science in biology and will have her MD in May 2014. She is applying for a residency as an otolar yngology-head and neck surgeon. Ashley won the following pageant titles: Miss Scotts Bluff County Teen 1999, Miss Scotts Bluff County 2002, Miss Eastern Nebraska 2005, Miss Omaha 2006, Miss Douglas County 2007 and then Miss Nebraska in 2007. How would you characterize your experience as Miss Nebraska? “Being Miss Nebraska was one of the best and most life-changing events
I’ve ever had. It was an honor to represent the state as Miss America, but it was an even bigger honor to be able to be a role model for kids across the state. My favorite memories include the people that I met and the opportunities where I was able to make a difference in many people’s lives. The scholarship money was also wonder ful and helped pay for my college and some of my medical school education.” What are your plans for the future? “My plans are to become an otolar yngologist and use the experiences that I learned from competing in pageants and representing our state to being an advocate for my patients. I love teaching and academics, so my plan is to continue teaching other young doctors in the future.”
Do people still recognize you on the street? “Sometimes people will recognize me. They will say that they met me during a certain event and that they still have my picture on their wall. But for the most part, I am always in the hospital and very rarely run into people that know that I used to be Miss Nebraska.” Do you have a message or advice for JaCee Pilkington? “Follow your dreams this year and soak up every moment. It is a busy year, but it goes by fast and will be over all too soon. Remember to hug all the little kids you see, thank all the people who are supporting you, and finally, take time for yourself every now and then. Good luck on this wonder ful journey.”
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Pageant Queens: Then and Now
Star-Herald
Pageant memories
World-Herald News Service
Kayla Batt is crowned Miss Nebraska 2011 by Miss Nebraska 2010 Nicky Haverland at the conclusion of the Miss Nebraska 2011 Pageant at the North Platte High School Performing Arts Center in North Platte.
Photo by Diane Wetzell/World-Herald News Service
JaCee Pilkington performs during the Miss Nebraska 2013 competition in North Platte.
Photo by Corbey R. Dorsey/The North Platte Telegraph
ABOVE: Mariah Cook, a Chadron native, is crowned as Miss Nebraska 2012 following the final evening of the annual pageant at North Platte High School. Photo by Kent Sievers/World-Herald News Service
FAR LEFT: Miss Nebraska 2007 Ashley Bauer waves to the crowd as the Chadron State College homecoming parade made its way up Main Street from the college to the downtown area of Chadron. Courtesy photo from Shelly Morehead
LEFT: Scotts Bluff County Fair Queen Pageant Director Cheryl Engelhaupt stands next to Miss America Teresa Scanlan shortly after Scanlan was crowned in Las Vegas in January 2011. Engelhaupt said she had no doubt that Scanlan possessed the talent, poise, intelligence and beauty to become Miss America.
MADDEN: Former pageant winner talks life lessons Continued from page 4 everything everyone had done to help me. I was happy with the outcome and absolutely loved the experience! Becoming Miss Wyoming was definitely life changing. I learned a lot about people skills, interviewing, volunteering, leadership, education and time management. I also made some great friends and opened doors for other opportunities in the process. Many people think that life as a pageant winner is super glamorous, but it’s actually a lot of hard work. We are just like everyone else, we are just lucky to have the ability and chance to try to make a difference ... with a little extra sparkle and a crown.
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perience. Throughout the process, you will have a lot of people giving you pointers, helping you out, and encouraging to try new things which is wonderful but never forget where you came from or who you are. Soak it all up because it goes by fast and then you will be a “has-been” like me. Have a blast and I will see you in Atlantic City!”
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What are your career plans? “I will be obtaining a master’s degree in occupational therapy and ideally would love to work at a children’s hospital and specialize in pediatrics.” Do people still recognize you on the street? “Sometimes people will in Wyoming, but for the most part things aren’t any different. I also don’t wear all the make-up, heels and hairspray around, which can make a difference, too.” Do you have a message or advice for JaCee Pilkington? “JaCee you are going to love your Miss America ex-
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