Parent Blog - Dez Kiefer

            Hello, my name is Dez I am McKenna’s mom. When I started to think about this blog I wasn’t sure where to even start, this year has been full of so many amazing things. So, I am going to start at the beginning.

            McKenna has always been interested in pageants, even when she was 3 years old! She loved watching all the ladies walk on stage, of course the pretty dresses was her favorite. But as she got older she started to look up to them for what their platforms where and what they did in the community. One of the women that McKenna knows well is Stacy Schaffer, my husband’s cousin. McKenna has looked up to her for all she does to fight human trafficking through her non-profit the 31:8 Project. She didn’t know until recently that Stacy was Miss North Dakota International 2011.

 

            McKenna had the opportunity to meet Ava Hill who at the time we first met her was Miss North Dakota 2019. She talked to McKenna about pageants, her platform Peyton’s Hearts which is about suicide awareness and showed her the proper way to do a pageant pose. McKenna was amazed and loved that Ava was promoting something that was very important to her.

 

                                             

 

            Shortly after this we had the opportunity to attend a Pageant workshop and McKenna was hooked! She was so happy that she could use her voice to promote mental health and suicide prevention, and that the International Pageant system promotes community involvement. Of course, she was excited to wear a pretty dress as well ;)

 

                                                  

 

            What I was not anticipating for this year is how much my little girl had grown, not just in height, but as an amazing young women. She has gained more confidence and uses her voice to promote an extremely hard topic that she is so passionate about. While this year did not go exactly how we were hoping because of the pandemic, she has had some amazing opportunities and met so many women who are amazing role models. She was on ND Today twice talking about her platform, volunteered at several events, volunteered at Girls Inc, and was featured in It’s Her Band Magazine!

 

                                                     

 

            This year has been so amazing and wonderful to watch our little girl grown into a strong willed beautiful young lady! I would not hesitate to encourage any young lady or women to participate in the International Pageants. This is was a jumpstart to all the amazing things my daughter now knows she is capable of.

 

                                        

As Always, we are HERE FOR YOU!

Dez Kiefer

Mother of Miss Pre Teen Flickertail 2020