AHS student
steps out
on pageant stages

Arlington High School junior Katie McAleer has become a seasoned expert in competing in pageants. A pretty brunette with a bubbly personality, McAleer is friendly and charming. Since she began competing, four years ago, McAleer has been winning titles.

On Dec. 17, She won the title of Empire Royalty in the Miss Empire Royalty New England Teen pageant.

McAleer entered the pageant world when she was 12, introduced through a friend during one of her modeling jobs. In total, she has completed nine pageants and has won two.

In an interview, the student said she has entered the Miss America system and will be competing in the Miss Easton's Outstanding Teen Pageant to qualify for Miss Massachusetts’s Outstanding Teen, and, she hopes, the teen version of Miss America, Miss America’s Outstanding Teen.

In 2010, she won the state title of International Junior Miss Teen Massachusetts and went on to compete in IJM’s national pageant. Although she did not win the competition, she placed second runner-up in the category of spokesmodel. In that role, McAleer advocates for a given product or service using her personality and appearance assist her.

For the most part, McAleer enters pageants because they "teach you to be organized, and how to budget your time well."

Targets stereotypes

She wants to erase the notion that pageants are just about dressing up and looking pretty for judges and says, "in my four years doing pageants, I have never met that stereotypical pageant girl that most people assume we all are like."

McAleer explained that although many people assume pageant contestants to be vapid and care only about their appearance, she and most other contestants spend time volunteering as well. She described how she defies the stereotype through her hard work in school and dedication to keeping her grades up.

At first, she admitted that she had not quite been ready for pageantry, but she, "ended up loving it, and I met such great girls, one of whom is still my best friend."

Since then, McAleer has competed in pageants, such as National American Miss (NAM), America’s Yankee Miss and various International Junior Miss (IJM) pageants. Having won contests in NAM, McAleer then went on to compete in IJM.

Most pageants offer monetary rewards to placing contests in the form of college scholarships. Some pageants also allow for qualifying in other pageants (in general, more elite ones require qualifying).
Winning pageants is also an honor to the recipient because of the difficulty of succeeding.

Work as volunteer

Her work with "The Dream, Believe, Know It Foundation" (DBK) has helped her both in and out of pageants. On Jan. 20, McAleer will contribute to the organization by volunteering at DBK’s New Jersey’s "Rock the Runway to Strut out Bullying" charity fashion show.

"I have been volunteering with DBK for three years now, and this summer got to help launch the antibullying campaign," she said. Specifically, McAleer worked on launching the "Caution: No Bully Zone" campaign.

McAleer attributes much of her success with her work with DBK, something that she is proud of and impresses pageant judges. Her generosity drives her to donate her time.

The writer is a junior journalism student at Arlington High School.