Fulfilling a Wish List: Delivering the Birthday Gifts at MU Children’s Hospital!

Yayyy!!!! Thanks to your support of our birthday party, Miss Missouri and I successfully had boxes full of awesome gifts for Children’s Miracle Network to deliver to the University of Missouri Children’s Hospital on Monday, May 21st in Columbia, MO!

To make the day even more special, my girl Cassidy-Rae Luebbering and her mother Renee (who even came to the birthday party!) were there along with CMN Even Coordinator Gretchen Roberts for some great photo opps. as we delivered the gifts to the hospital. Sydney and I met some very kind Child Life Specialists who work in the different parts of the hospital with the children to brighten their day. It was our goal to fulfill some of the wishes on the hospital’s wish list, and I think we did just that! The thought of all of the smiles that will spread across the children’s’ faces when they receive their gifts brings joy to me! Thank you so much if you supported this cause and donated gifts. What were the chances of Miss Missouri and MMOT having the same birthday?! It’s amazing how God works His magic .

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Thanking you,

Kensie

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen 2011♥

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”~ Matthew 5:8

A Fun Day of Character Education at Eugene Field School in Mexico, MO!

Happy Summer Day!

On Friday, May 18th, I hit the road for good ole Mexico, MO the home of the Miss Missouri Pageant! Thanks to the very kind Eugene Field School Counselor and MMOT Board Member Amy Aurwater, I had the wonderful privilege of coming to Eugene Field school to share my message all day with the students about character education! I spent the day rotating between classrooms with various age groups and teaching them lessons and fun activities about character educatio; one of my favorite being a citizenship rap! Since their mascot is the bulldogs, we would say, “BULLDOGS!” at the end of our rap with our arms crossed and then start barking! To control the length of barking, I would punch the palm of my hand and say, “Put the dogs in the pound!” Haha! Sometimes the groups of different classes I was speaking to were so large that we did the lessons in the gym! For the younger grades such as Kindergarten and First Grade, I read them the book “The Recess Queen.” I had fun answering all of their questions, like “What’s your favorite food?” [It's french toast by the way]. In the middle of the day, I helped pack food into the students’ backpacks for the “Backpack Buddy” Program. That was a very rewarding experience.

It was one of their very last days of school so there were a lot of exciting things going on! The Second Grade was holding their big annual popcorn sales! I had the pleasure of enjoying a bag myself. I even met their teacher, also known as “The Popcorn Queen.” At the end of the day, they held a celebration assembly to give out awards and all of the students did the citizenship rap with me for the staff. I had an incredibly fun time at Eugene Field School! It was filled with the sweetest, well-mannered students, and a very kind staff. Thank you so, so much to Amy Aurwater for giving me the opportunity to share my platform at such a great school. I had a blast!

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God Bless,

Kensie Garber

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen 2011♥

“It is our character that supports the promise of our future “- William J. Bennett

My Miracle Girl Cassidy-Rae’s Preschool Graduation!

Heyhey!

Thursday, May 17th was a great day! If you’ve kept up with my blog at all, then you know all about my miracle girl Cassidy-Rae Luebbering! Well this sweet girl graduated from Preschool! Her family was so kind as to drive three hours for my high school graduation as well as my birthday party. So considering how big of a blessing they have been to me this year, and how much I love them, it was the least I could do to go to her graduation! My mom and grandmother attended with me and it was such a fun day! Cassidy-Rae’s mother Renee, is the sweetest people I have ever met. She inspires me with her strength and warm-spirit. I must say, Cassidy-Rae looked pretty adorable in her white cap and gown! That girl is all smiles . I gave her a baby doll and a stuffed hippo as a congratulation present! After the graduation we enjoyed yummy pizza right across from the capitol building in Jefferson City with Cassidy-Rae’s parents and two grandmothers. Cassidy-Rae’s mother Renee, is the sweetest person I have ever met. She inspires me with her strength and warm-spirit.

The most amazing part of the day was when Cassidy-Rae’s grandmother hugged her goodbye and told her she loved her. Guess what?! Cassidy-Rae said, “I love you” back!! :O Cassidy-Rae doesn’t speak usually so this was a miracle! I’m pretty sure my eyes became the size of softballs!! This little girl never ceases to amaze me by her joy. I think that we can all learn a lot about life from Cassidy-Rae. God has extremely blessed me by placing her and her family into my life. He gave Cassidy-Rae to the perfect family. I’m so blessed to be a part of it. ♥

Congratulations Cassidy-Rae on Such a Big and Special Day!

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Love,

Kensie

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen 2011♥

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.“~John 15:12

Megan Meier Foundation at Kirksville High School

Hello! We have some catching up to do!

Since, I finally graduated high school and went on my senior trip to Florida to swim with the dolphins, I have done several appearances that I’m excited to tell you about! On Wednesday, May 16th, I headed to Kirksville High School to see one of the very most inspirational women I have ever encountered- Tina Meier, founder of the Megan Meier Foundation!! Tina travels across the United States year-round as well as holds events to speak about the risks of bullying and ways to prevent teen suicide. Miss Gateway to the West Outstanding Teen , Samantha Caraway attends Kirksville High School and together, her and I helped facilitate Tina’s presentation. In conjunction with Samantha’s platform, “Promoting Positive Behaviors in Youth” the Mark Twain Behavorial Health Center has teamed up with her through the utilization of a suicide prevention grant to do different in activities in the community. Her mother, Angela Caraway works for this Center as the manager of clinical operations. She writes the grants such as this one for improved access to mental health services in rural Missouri. Angela and Samantha so kindly invited me to be a part of this awesome day, and of course I came! Through my involvement with the Megan Meier Foundation, I have witnessed the power of Tina Meier’s testimony and the effect that she has on teens when it comes to bullying and suicide prevention.

After Tina’s first presentation of the day, we left the high school to go grab lunch. On my way to the car, I had the pleasant surprise of running into my dear friend Morgan Carnes! Miss Gateway to the West Outstanding Teen 2011 and graduating senior! It was great to see her and a cherry on my sundae of an already awesome day! After visiting with Morgan before she had to run to class, Angela, one of her fellow co-workers, Tina, and I enjoyed a lovely lunch together and had a great conversation. Like I said, Tina Meier is an incredibly inspirational woman and it was so nice to enjoy her company and visit with her. I look forward to my future experiences with the Megan Meier Foundation, even after I give up my title of MMOT. It was a great day of seeing great friends! Thank you for including me.

Love,

Kensie Lane

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen 2011 ♥

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The mission of the Megan Meier Foundation is to bring awareness, education and promote positive change to children, parents, and educators in response to the ongoing bullying and cyber bullying in our children’s daily environment. -http://www.meganmeierfoundation.org/

Make Me a Cover Model for Fourpoints Magazine!

Hey Everyone! Guess what?!?!

I made the Top 25 in the Fourpoints Magazine “Make Me a Cover Model” Contest! :O Fourpoints magazine is the #1 news and entertainment source for everything Miss America! It woud be a dream come true to be featured on the cover and share my message across the country. This is a voted on competition and I am going to need lots of help! I need your votes! I would really appreciate any time you took to vote!

• You can vote 100 times each day per device by visiting www.fourpointsmagazine.com!

Top 25 voting for the 2012 Make Me A Cover Model Contest is open Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 8 a.m. through Tuesday, May  15, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. Top 5 voting begins Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 8  a.m. and will be open until Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. The winner will  be announced Friday, June 1, 2012 in the fourpoints eNewsletter.

The voting rules: Some browsers require you to exit or clear history for re-voting. fourpointsmagazine.com reserves the right to block IP addresses for the duration of the contest that attempt to bypass the voting mechanism to automate adding of votes. The final decision of the 2012 Make Me A Cover Model contest in based 50 percent on public voting and 50 percent on a panel of esteemed judges.

Thank you for your support!

 

Our Birthday Party in Honor of CMN!

Hello!

Sunday, April 29th was one of the best days ever! I went to El Dorado Springs (Miss Missouri’s home town) for a birthday party thrown by Miss Missouri Sydney Friar and myself in honor of Children’s Miracle Network! You’ve probably heard that we share the same birthday of April 25th. When we discovered this ourselves we thought that there would be no greater way to celebrate, than honoring Children’s Miracle Network! We started out meeting up at Sydney’s mom’s awesome boutique and ate yummy ice cream cones! Then we split up into groups and went on a fun photo scavenger hunt, which taught us all a little bit about Sydney’s home town and some of her Miss Missouri sponsors! One of the sites was the city limit sign with a special sign for Sydney! We also visited the natural spring. I slid my way out of tasting the water. The last destination of the scavenger hunt was Sydney’s home where we had yummy snacks! Then we went to the town museum and had a mini photo shoot! Then it was party time! We headed down to the adorable park of El Dorado Springs and had our party in a nice building, which was decorated so nicely by the Friar family! We cut the yummy cake and all of the title holders signed autographs for the community members.

The best part of my day was when Cassidy-Rae Lubbering arrived with her parents! If you have kept up with my blog you might already know about Cassidy-Rae. Cassidy-Rae is the most amazing little girl I have ever met. She is a Children’s Miracle Network child. I met her last summer at a CMN fundraiser and she instantly became my girl! She has been the greatest blessing God has placed in my life this year, if not my entire life! Her parents were so kind to bring her and they spoiled me with lots of pictures of Cassidy-Rae, a homemade frame holding a picture of Cassidy-Rae and I at the CMN Banquet, and Cassidy Rae even made me a pretty picture! Cassidy-Rae has a Dyvanox, which helps her share her thoughts. It was  programmed to tell Sydney and I happy birthday which I thought was the sweetest thing in the world! That, along with her 100 watt smile made my day. Also there, was a sweet little girl Amy with her “Team Amy.” It was great to have miracle children there as testimonies of what we strive for!

I want to give a special thanks to all of the title holders who came: Miss Cedar County, Lauren Alumbaugh; Miss Spirit of St Louis, Hannah Rhoad; Miss Branson’s Outstanding Teen, Hannah Eastin; Miss Crowder’s Outstanding Teen, Bailee Bybee; Miss Heartland’s Outstanding Teen, Jacqueline Janorschke; and Miss Mid-Missouri’s Outstanding Teen, Rebekah Rhoad. And a HUGE thanks to everyone who brought gifts for the Children’s Miracle Network hospital patients! We had a great turn out and I know that these gifts will bring joy and excitement to the lives of the children! Thank you all for your support! It was the perfect day and a dream Sydney and I have had all year since discovering that we shared the same birthday of April 25th. Now…I bet that’s a coincidence that will probably happen again!

Love,

Kensie

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen 2011

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Promoting Character Education at the Capitol

Hello! We have some catching up to do!

On April 26th, the day after my birthday, I headed to the capital in Jefferson city to speak to the representatives and other governmental officials about my platform, “Promoting Character Education.” This has been a goal of mine for years, before and after being crowned Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen. I always thought this might be hard to accomplish! But thanks to my director Brendan Webber and his Representative John Cauthorn, my dream came true, and it was better than I could’ve imagined! I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived and learned that I would be speaking in the House Lounge, which is the room with the huge mural of Missouri’s history! It is my favorite room of the capitol building. I find it so beautiful, so it was a huge honor to have that room designated to my presentation! I spoke about my platform and my main objective of integrating character education into all school curriculum across the state of Missouri. Coincidentally, some high school girls were there on a tour with their mom who works there. So it was neat to share my platform with a wide age group, especially because my platform is largely relevant with them! Every one who came to listen was so kind and very receptive of my message. I handed out a packet to everyone with articles and statistics about character education and how it improves student excellence, provided by CHARACTERplus.

After my presentation I answered questions and signed autographs. Then I went and visited some representatives in their offices, like my good friend, the very kind representative Zach Wyatt! Next, I headed down to the House Floor to be introduced by my very own representative, the appropriation of the education committee, Mike Lair. That was very exciting to be introduced in such an incredible room to so many important people. I had fun conversing with all of the capitol officials and signing autographs. Needless to say, I had an incredible day at the capitol! As my reign is nearing to an end, it is nice to add another check mark to my list of things to accomplish as Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen!

 

Love,

Kensie Lane

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen 2011

Featured in Lair’s Legislative Log!

I was featured in “Lair’s Legislative Log” on the same page as the Hale 4th Graders from my school who had a field trip to the capital that week!

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