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| Contributed photo Kelsie Washinton, at left, was named Miss Congeniality during the Miss Maine Outstanding Teen Pageant on June 22. She’s shown here with New Sweden native and Miss Maine 2012 Molly Bouchard. |
By Natalie De La Garza
Staff Writer
Kelsie Washington wasn’t sad about not winning the Miss Maine’s Outstanding Teen 2013 during the June 22 Pageant at Crooker Theater in Brunswick — she was too busy being happy for the winner, Daphne Ellis of Turner, who’d become a dear friend during the course of pageant preparations.
In fact, Washington befriended all of her competitors during the months upon months of practices and rehearsals leading up to the event, which is probably why the Caribou teen was voted Miss Congeniality in the statewide pageant.
“She’s always had a big heart,” said Kelsie’s mother, Chris Washington. “I remember when she was younger at a school in Germany, she made sure that any new kids that came in felt welcome and she’d show them the school.”
While Kelsie is familiar with local pageantry, this was her first foray into statewide competition.
“It was a much bigger time commitment,” she explained.
There was fundraising for the Children’s Miracle Network, creating and promoting a platform, and rigorous attention to interview skills.
“You had to know your stuff,” Kelsie explained. “They had the question ‘Why should we choose you to be a Miss Maine Outstanding Teen? And it was really hard because you don’t want to sound narcissistic.”
There were workshops every other weekend that culminated with a pre-pageant week-long immersion directly before the main event.
“I was basically living down there,” Kelsie said, describing how the competitors stayed in a hotel for a week before the pageant. “We would eat, then go to the practices, have lunch, go to practice, go out to eat, go back to practice, then go back to our rooms — I was in heels all week!”
Of course, Kelsie seems to be drawn to activities involving uncomfortable footwear; when she’s not competing for pageants in a minimum of four-inch heels, she’s dancing en pointe with the Robinson Ballet out of Bangor. (Though she did give her feet a break, wearing flip flops to interview for this story)
Both the Miss Maine Outstanding Teen Pageant and dancing with the Robinson Ballet require tremendous time commitments, but thanks to the support of her family — who’ve driven that stretch from Caribou to Bangor countless times — she was able to attend practices at the Robinson Ballet on Saturdays, and pageant workshops on Sundays.
“Sometimes it was hard because I had homework,” the 14-year-old said.
After spending so much time with her fellow pageant participants, Kelsie admitted that she was very sad when the pageant came to a close — but not because she didn’t win the tiara.
“I admit, I was crying after [the gown portion of the pageant] because I didn’t want to leave any of the girls,” Kelsie said, explaining that the group was very close and very supportive of one another.
Kelsie’s already preparing for next year’s pageant, which means she’ll have an extra half year to prepare for the competition this time around.
Chris explained that Kelsie didn’t decide to compete in the 2013 pageant until about February; by that time, she was already behind the ball with her platform. Knowing now that she wants to participate in the 2014 pageant, she’s already working on strengthening her platform and creating a business plan to better promote her efforts.
The platform, which she said she’ll probably rename, was called “Dancing Against Bullying;” it promotes finding a healthy outlet for frustration and stress as well as a proactively helping others cope with bullying — because most people have been bullied at some point.
“I want to teach kids how to let that go,” she explained. “If they get bullied, let that frustration out instead of doing drugs or violence.”
When she gets picked on or bullied, for instance, Kelsie turns on some music when she gets home from school and works on her technique, or she’ll make up a dance.
“It helps me relax and leave the frustration, so what I’d like to teach kids is how to let that frustration go either by throwing a ball with their father or friends, or dancing or doing something they like — even volunteering — to just let that frustration go.”
Not only does her platform aim to teach kids healthy coping skills, it encourages them to help others do the same.
This fall, Kelsie will be a sophomore at the Caribou High School.
