This past weekend, 19 young women took to the stage at Sherman High School to compete in the first Miss Tri-County preliminary pageant held in the city. While just 8 titles were given out, Karlee Beavers said this pageant became about more than a title and scholarship money as she has gained new confidence through this experience.
Newly named, Miss Congeniality Karlee Beavers, of Sherman, attends Gunter High School, and this was her first time participating in a pageant.
“I am a part of HOSA and we were raising money for Women Rock. Mrs. Secily (Commons) came to our school one day and was talking to our HOSA teacher,” Karlee said. “She was telling us about the pageant and asked if any of us would be interested. She told us that there was scholarship money involved. We were like OK. It is worth it to give it a shot.”
From there, Karlee jumped right in. She borrowed outfits from friends, got a spray tan and was ready to take on the Miss Texas Teens preliminary event.
“We had an interview with Mrs. Secily,” she said. “She asked us questions. We did a practice interview before the pageant to help us with the private interview we were to do at the pageant.”
As for a talent, Karlee presented a sport she loves.
“My friend in 8th grade had a family friend who wrestled. She said she was going to go to a practice one day,” she said. “I decided to go along with her, and I continued doing it. It was funny. She stopped doing it, but I continued with it.”
Karlee recently qualified for regionals in wrestling and feels that the pageant was a way for her to bring out her girly side.
With the help of a partner, Karlee successfully performed a fireman, a move where one challenger throws the other over their shoulder to get them on their back to lead to a pin.
“I just don’t think it was long enough,” Karlee said.
Going into the pageant, Karlee only knew two other contestants. One was her sister, Peyton, and a classmate who is also in HOSA.
“I was really nervous. Leading up to it, I was not really nervous,” Karlee said. “But, when we got there and it all kicked in, there was really a lot more to the pageant than I originally thought. That was when I got really nervous. The other girls there, some of them knew what they were doing. Mrs. Secily was there to calm all of us down that were nervous. That made it a lot better too.”
“I definitely would like to do another pageant,” she continued. “I was not expecting to have as much fun and meet as many people as I did doing this pageant. I think it was a really great experience. It also helps with a lot of life things too. Like the interview part. If you want to get a job in the future, you are going to have to know how to be interviewed. That was really good.”
Karlee was not an overall title winner, but she was given the Miss Congeniality award.
“Winning Miss Congeniality meant a lot to me,” she said. “My love language is acts of service. I love doing things for people. I love getting things for people. So, to me winning Miss Congeniality means a lot. It means that I was putting on a good example for my friends that no good deed goes unnoticed.
There was a lot of camaraderie in the room.
“Before we started our interviews, one of the girls was like, ‘Do y’all want to pray?'” she said. “We agreed. Everyone thought it sounded like a really good idea. We got into a circle and held hands. I was actually the one that was able to say the prayer.”
That was when Karlee felt herself calm down.
“It was just overall a good experience,” she said. “I was expecting to go in and probably just do it one time, and then it just be a fun time. But now, I kind of have an itch for it. I want to do another one. I want to see what I can do going forward.”
Title winners for the pageant included Miss Tri-County – AshLyn Sterling, Miss Tri-County’s Teen – Kate Sanches, Miss Grayson County – Yasmine Signey, Miss Grayson County’s Teen Ella Acker, Miss Texoma Stephanie Studdard, Miss Texoma’s Teen Jordan McMahan, Miss Sherman Andrea Padilla and Miss Sherman’s Teen Emily Mazac.
