America’s Junior Miss pageant has been giving teenage girls scholarship opportunities since 1958, helping over 500,000 girls by doling out money for school. Kristi Snyder, a junior who participated in the Junior Miss pageant, won for the Greater Baltimore Area. Prior to the Junior Miss pageant, Snyder had not participated in any other pageants, “Mrs. B mentioned the program to me, and the wholesomeness of the program really caught my eye and I decided to enter.”
The Junior Miss program states that their mission is to empower young women and develop creative skills. They do this through a program that is divided into five categories: an interview that counts for 25% of the scoring, talent for 25%, scholastics for 20%, self expression for 15% and fitness for 15%.
Snyder performed a tap dance routine to “A Step in Time” from Broadway’s Mary Poppins, “Mrs. [Kim Brueggemann] choreographed it for me, and I practiced the fitness routine I learned at Orientation a few weeks prior to the program.” Snyder’s grades were submitted to the judges to cover the scholastic component.
As Greater Baltimore’s Junior Miss, Snyder will visit different organizations, charities and other groups of young girls to talk about the program, whose main theme is “Be Your Best Self.”
“Be Your Best Self is about five core ideas: Be Healthy, Be Involved, Be Studious, Be Ambitious, and Be Responsible. I feel so privileged and excited to be an influence in younger girls’ lives,” said Snyder.
Since Snyder won the region competition, she will advance to the State program that takes place on July 10 and 11 this year, “with each level of competition, the amount of money for the scholarship increases,” she said. “I am so blessed. Words cannot even describe how great this experience has been for me.”
Snyder hopes that her success will inspire others to participate in the Junior Miss Pageant. “This Program has been such a positive experience for me and for all of the other contestants at the Regional Program. This is an experience that you will never forget!”
Kristie Snyder, after moving on from Greater Baltimore’s Junior Miss to Maryland’s Junior Miss, she most recently competed in the Junior Miss Program at a national level. She placed in the top ten in the program, at the national level.