Speak Hard Conference at the Capitol

Hello!

I don’t know about you, but I am loving this warm weather! On March 28th, right after my three-day FCCLA State Leadership Conference and winning First Place Gold in my STAR Event “Fashion Construction,” I hit the road again and headed to Jefferson City! I had the wonderful privilege of being a presenter at the 8th Annual Speak Hard Youth Conference with Miss Gateway to the West’s Outstanding Teen Samantha Caraway! Samantha asked me to speak with her at this event and I felt so privileged to have the opportunity! We combined out platforms of “Promoting Character Education” (mine) “Promoting Positive Behavior  in Youth” (Samantha’s) and gave a presentation covering various topics and issues that teens face today. These including character, bullying and negative behavior prevention, and teen suicide. After we gave our presentation, we broke the room up into small groups so that they could write Public Service Announcements to promote a cause that they cared for relating to our presentation. Samantha will pick one of the PSAs and record it for her local radio stations!

After the conference, we headed over to the capitol to speak with legislators about our platforms and various bills that we would like to see  passed in relation to our platforms.  There are currently three bills underway with the topic of bullying prevention. Bill # HB 1049 defines “cyberbullying” as it relates to the antibullying policy that school districts must adopt and establishes specific requirements for each school district in implementing the policy.  Bill # HB 1572  and Bill # HB 1579 change the laws regarding bullying in schools. I am definitely a big supporter of bills such as these and was glad to discuss them with the legislators!  It was so great meeting Samantha’s Representative Zachary Wyatt as well seeing mine, Mike Lair! We were even introduced to several legislators on the House Floor during a session. I had an incredible time with Samantha and Angela Caraway for including me in such a great event that enabled us to share our passions with not only the youth of our state, but the leaders as well. Thank you girls!

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“The real ornament of woman is her character, her purity.”- Mahatma Gandhi

I was featured in Rep. Mike Lair’s Legislative Log!

Love,

Kensie

MMOT 2011 ♥

Big Bulldogs Have Paws-itively Good Character Too! Promoting Character at Gallatin High School

HeyHey!!

 

To start my month off, last Thursday on March 1st I went to Gallatin High School to speak to seven different classes about my platform “Promoting Character Education.” I spoke to their elementary school back in December (see earlier blog post) and had the pleasure of meeting their high school counselor Joyce Cox. She is such a kind person and asked me if I would be interested in coming to speak to the high school students. Speaking about my platform is a passion of mine so of course, I seized the opportunity! I arrived at their school at 7:50 and began speaking to my first group of students which consisted of sophomores through seniors. I spoke in their lovely library and had a huge screen to display my presentation on. My presentation highlights bullying prevention and character education. I have adapted this presentation from my work with the Megan Meier Foundation and CHARACTERplus, but this time I added a new special touch to my presentation. My main theme and point I leave with the students to take home and to keep in their mind is that, “Love is Louder. Love is Louder than the pressure to be perfect or to fit in. And love is louder than any negative situation in your life.” So for my new special touch, I had the students find a  student they didn’t know very well or weren’t very good friends with. I passed out sharpies and they wrote, “Love is Louder” on each other’s hands. I wanted something that would bring the students together and leave them remembering my message. They seemed to like this activity. And I saw students from completely different sides of the room come together. Mission accomplished! I spoke every hour of the day, with a total of seven hours of speaking. I spoke to ages ranging from 7th graders on up to seniors. All of the students were so kind to me! I think I went through about three-hundred autograph cards!! I had such an incredible day walking through the hallways of Gallatin High School and impacting their students. I feel that as someone their age, I can relate to the situations they are going through, give them the education to push through it, and be an inspiration for others as well as an example of a wholesome life. There are so many negative influences in our society today. I feel that my generation has settled into the stigma and just accepted the social norms of living under the influence of peer pressure. We all want to be successful. And the most essential key to becoming successful is having good character.

 

I had an incredible day as Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen at Gallatin High School. It is such a great school filled with awesome students… and as a bonus- they had a great lunch with yummy banana cake! I want to thank Counselor Joyce Cox, and the rest of the very kind staff and students at Gallatin High School. I hope I positively impacted  you in some way and gave you some ideas on ways in which you can improve the atmosphere of your school to become even better!! You all rock!

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Love,

 

Kensie Lane

 

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen 2011 ♥

“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”- Proverbs 16:3

 

 

 

Pancakes With a Purpose: National Pankcake Day for Children’s Miracle Network!

Hello there!

 

This past week, on February 28, I hit the road early in the morning and headed to my favorite restaurant in the whole wide world…. IHOP! If you’ve been reading my blog, then you know that I have burning love for IHOP and its pancakes. Today, I ate pancakes with a purpose! I went to St. Joseph, Missouri IHOP to celebrate National Pancake Day for Children’s Miracle Network! I was so fortunate to have this opportunity particularly at this IHOP because they were one of the restaurants that had made the most donations! Last year, they were the top proceeding IHOP on this day in the Kansas City Area, raising $7,000 for Children’s Miracle Network. I had never seen an IHOP quite like this one because every inch of the walls were covered in CMN balloons!! I spent the first half of my day greeting people at the door and telling them about National Pancake Day, which meant FREE SHORT STACK PANCAKES FOR EVERYONE! I also told them about Children’s Miracle Network and how their donations would benefit local hospitals. I spoke about Miss America’s proud partnership with the Children’s Miracle Network and also signed autograph cards.

 

I spent the second part of my day in the kitchen! (I felt so cool!) I helped send out orders and I had the very fun job of serving pancakes to the people! I even got to wear my very own special red IHOP apron. (All of the other ones were blue) IHOP is now a sponsor of the movie “The Lorax,” so I had fun passing out little book marks to the children. These were special Lorax bookmarks with tree seeds on them. The Lorax Project is trying to create more trees here on earth. I told the children that if they grew them, a little orange fuzz would grow on them just like the Lorax trees! (true story!) St. Joseph IHOP set a goal to raise $10,000 this year for Children’s Miracle Network, and I know that we definitely accomplished that goal or became very close! I even talked a Harley Davidson guy into added another $200.00 to his big balloon. That was my big accomplishment for the day! Needless to say, I had a complete and total blast at the St. Joseph IHOP! The staff was so so kind to me and they made me feel like part of the family. To top off the great day, I enjoyed some blueberry banana pancakes. Yummmmmm.  I love IHOP. I love Children’s Miracle Network. And I love the Miss America and Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Program. I’m so blessed to be a part of all three!

 

Happy Pancake Day!

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Love,

 

Pancake Girl

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen 2011 ♥

The Watercolors High Fashion Show & Many Surprises!

Hey you!

I had a very, very exciting weekend full of surprises!! I will tell you the story from the beginning. Some friends of mine had told me about the incredible dress store “Watercolors High Fashion,” so I went dress shopping there for my Miss America trip in Las Vegas. I ended up getting two beautiful Sherri Hill cocktail dresses. They asked my to model in their “Aviators & Angels” fashion show and headlining show for Kansas City Fashion Week. I thought that it sounded like a really fun experience so with the support of my mom, I said of course!! This past Friday, the 24th, I had rehearsal after that night’s fashion shows in the Harrah’s Casino Hotel in Kansas City. I had so much fun watching the different fashion shows, and seeing the models show off all of the new designs. I made some great new friends at rehearsal and saw my good friends Jacqueline Janorske- Miss Heartland’s Outstanding Teen and Tina York- Mrs. Missouri.

Saturday was the big day of the “Angels and Aviators” show! Watercolors High Fashion partnered with Angel Flight Central to help raise money for their medical and charity air transportation for reasons of compassion and community service. All models had to be at the Harrah’s Casino at 1:00, where we were sent to the Voodoo Longe for hair and make-up! It was a really neat set up and it was so much fun to have professional hair and make-up artists primping me! I felt like I was at a fashion show in New York! I have to send a shout-out to Pinky Couture for awesomely doing my hair and make-up! It looked like a scene out of a Dr. Seuss book with all of the funky hair styles they were doing on the models. After many more hours of rehearsing, it was finally time for the show!! I had a blast modeling one of my favorite dresses. It comes from Sherri Hill’s Rock Star line and a very similar piece can be found on Selena Gomez in her “Love You Like a Love Song” music video. At the end of the show I&I Agencies presented a half scholarship and full scholarship to two models to attend the Global Stars Network Event. With hundreds of other beautiful girls around me, including actual models, I had no expectations of winning such a great award. Much to my surprise, I was the recipient of the full scholarship. I am very excited to begin classes and in May to travel to the Bahamas on a cruise ship for auditions! Watercolors High Fashion also presented a “Top Flair Model.” Totally unexpectedly again, I also won this award! I received the biggest trophy I have ever won in my life. To add to the excitement, I had about thirteen of my friends there to support me! I am unbelievably blessed by God and all of my fortunes and friendships are gifts from Him. Thank you to Shelley Wood and everyone else from Watercolors High Fashion for including me in a phenomenal show with such great opportunities!

After the show…guess where I went to eat with my friends?? If you’ve been reading my blog you should know me well enough by now- Ihop of course!! I enjoyed blueberry banana pancakes, and with the show getting over around midnight, it was great sinking into my hotel bed at 2:00 A.M. What a fun weekend I had! My mind is blown by how incredible my journey as Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen has been. It has been so much more than I ever dreamt. From the connections I have made, to the experiences and opportunities I have been blessed with, I couldn’t be more awestruck and grateful.

Love you,

Kensie

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen 2011 ♥

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Promoting Character Education at Northwestern School

Hi there!

Last Wednesday, February 22nd, I visited Northwestern School in Mendon, MO and spoke to their high school, middle school, elementary, and preschool about character and bullying prevention. This is actually the school that my father, Ron Garber is the superintendent of. After he went with me to my presentation at Lindbergh High School in St. Louis, he asked me if I would be interested in speaking to his school. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity! He introduced me before each of my presentations so that was a unique change. :) I know many of the students because they are in my Conference so it was a neat experience to speak in front of a lot of people who know me as the cheerleader and dancer from Hale. I didn’t have to emphasize to these students that I was just like them and that I understood what they’re going through, because they knew this. I also didn’t have to explain to them the size of my school and hometown, because they also knew this! So we jumped right into things! First, I gave my “Love is Louder” presentation to the high school. My main message is that Love is Louder than the pressure to be perfect or fit in. I spoke to them on behalf of CHARACTERplus and the Megan Meier Foundation about bullying prevention and teen suicide. Next, I did two sessions of my elementary presentation and even spoke to the preschoolers. We did a lot of fun activities to help learn all of the character traits. They were great little rappers when we did our “Citizenship Rap!” And they did a great job using Cooperation and making shapes as team with their bodies. I used cake and taught them that “Tolerance takes the cake,” along with many other activities. (See previous blog posts if you are interested in all of my character teaching activities.) To end the day, I spoke to the junior high. It was my first time speaking directly to middle schoolers, so it was great practice and I gathered some new ideas on how to improve the receptivity of my presentation for that age group. All of the students were great listeners and I especially appreciated the gratitude and respect that I received from the staff of Northwestern School. Like two days after my presentation, I received lovely cards in the mail thanking me for my presentation. One with a butterfly on it said, “People like you make the world a better place.” That simply made my day. They had a school board meeting later that day after I presented and my dad told me that so many nice compliments were given. I couldn’t be more appreciative of Northwestern school for giving me the opportunity to share my platform and my mission with their student body. I want to thank my daddy for giving me another awesome day to add to my year as Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen.

See photographed: The elementary students are using cooperation to make shapes with their bodies. The boys are making a basketball because in basketball you have to show teamwork. Extra touch: It’s a bouncing basketball! The girls made a fish because a school of fish stands a far greater chance against a shark, rather than Nemo swimming all alone in the ocean. Just like a student walking through the hallways- we should stick together! Extra touch: The fish is even blowing three bubbles!

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Love is Louder than the pressure to be perfect or fit in. Words can cost a life. No one deserves to be bullied for any reason. Period.

God Bless,

Kensie

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen

The Northeast Counties Pageant & Princess Academy

Hello Hello!!

Last Saturday, February 18th, I had a very fun day in Kirksville, MO at the Northeast Counties Pageant!! I started the day off at 11:00 with a Princess Academy with about twenty adorable little princesses. We started with a fun tea party, and then it was on to learning our dance “Rockin Robin,” which was beautifully choreographed by Morgan Carnes. With Miss NE Counties Jenna Osseck and NE Counties Outstanding Teen Jocelyn Weyer, I then took some fun photos with all of the little princesses. Next it was on to the magical room of everything where the girls made arts and crafts such as foam door hangers and crowns. They all had their hair, make-up, and nails done, and of course…I was at the booth that was designing and making dresses out of pink table cloths! To top off the great Princess Academy, we put on a fashion show for all of the parents in which I emceed; complete with runway music, a lit up runway, and a bubble machine. Thank you to Laci Cook who coordinated the Princess Academy and was a blast to be around all day!!

I enjoyed dinner with all of the judges, title holders, and Northeast Counties Pageant board and directors. Then it was SHOW TIME BABY! I enjoyed helping Stacey Cooley emcee and thanking the sponsors as well as speaking about my reign thus far. I performed “Rockin Robin” with the little princesses and crowned all of them as they modeled their pretty gowns. I performed my musical theatre dance “Spanish Rose” and also had the honor of helping crown the new title holders! Congratulations to Jennifer Zweifel- the new Miss Northeast Counties, to Caitlin Pennington- the newly crowned Miss Northeast Counties’ Outstanding Teen, and to Caitlin’s sister Megan-the new Pre-Teen Miss Northeast Counties! After the pageant we enjoyed a beautiful reception with angel cake cupcakes! Yumm! It was so great to see all of my pageant family, some in which I hadn’t seen in much too long. I want to thank Todd and Angela Caraway for having me as a part of such a well-ran and enjoyable pageant day!

Love,

Kensie

Miss Missouri’s Outstanding Teen 2011

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Featured in Fourpoints!!

Hello!

 

Well my day was made yesterday when I realized that my picture had made it into Fourpoints Magazine, the number 1 entertainment source for everything Miss America! My dear friend, Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Elizabeth Fechtel is in the photo with me as I’m jumping for joy for being at Miss America in Las Vegas!! I thought I would share the picture with you!

 

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