Killacky: Judging Miss Vermont

Print More
MP3

(Host)
Commentator John Killacky is the executive director of Flynn Center for
the Performing Arts in Burlington. Last month he was invited to judge a
beauty pageant and was skeptical, but found the experience
enlightening.

(Killacky) Recently I was a judge for Miss Vermont
and Miss Vermont Outstanding Teen. Both programs are part of the Miss
America organization. Throughout the process, I often thought about
other young women I encounter, comparing and contrasting contestants
with the teens in summer musicals around town and those at the stable where I
keep my Shetland pony. All are impressively
focused and disciplined in their divergent extracurricular activities.

Miss
America began in 1921 as a bathing beauty contest to keep tourists in
Atlantic City after Labor Day. It was not until 1935 that talent was
incorporated. In 1945 a scholarship component was added. Today Miss
America is the largest provider of scholarships for women in this
country, last year awarding more than $45 million in cash and
scholarship assistance.

Vermont has had an ambivalent
relationship with Miss America, not even joining until after
scholarships were included. We’re an open and inclusive state, so any
young women can enter without regional or local preliminaries. No
Vermonter has ever placed in the national finals, except Ashley Wheeler
from the Northeast Kingdom, who won the talent competition in 2009.

There
were five judges. Bebe Shopp Waring, Miss America 1948, was our star.
There was also Kyle Oldham, a daughter of another crown holder, who had
gone on to a successful television career. Rounding out the group was
Jim Steiner, a federal strategy consultant from D.C., Sara Byers of
Leonardo’s Pizza in South Burlington, and me. This was not a weekend of
tantrums and tiaras, but a focused spotlight on young women intent upon
scholarship, success, service, and style.

Academic achievement
was a key criterion for teen contestants. Both the teens and young women
were required to have platform issues they could speak to. All answered
questions onstage drawn from their concerns and current events. Their
dedication to community service was inspiring; one young woman logged
2,500 volunteer hours staffing a crisis phone line during college.

Talent
accounted for 35% of the scores. The winning teen, Caroline Jones, a
three-time Junior Olympic athlete in fencing from Shelburne, performed a
swashbuckling Peter Pan sword fight. The winner of Miss Vermont, Chelsea Ingram, a meteorologist from St. Johnsbury, sang an aria from
"Carmen" – beautifully.

And of course, there were fabulous gowns and
the lifestyle and fitness category featured the young women in
swimsuits and teens in athletic wear. We were told to focus on how
physically fit and comfortable the contestants were, but I still found
this component awkward to score.

When judges were first
introduced to the contestants, our celebrity, Miss America 1948, pulled
out her black and white one-piece woolen swimsuit she wore in
competition. Styles and body types have most certainly changed since
then.

I came away realizing that these bright contestants found
the experience to be empowering. Many spoke about it as self-confidence
skill building and leadership development, introducing them into a
lifelong sisterhood of support and encouragement. All good things, in
whatever form they take.

Comments are closed.