Miss America's Teen – New England Pageant News

A Very Happy Birthday for Miss Massachusetts’ Teen

June 17, 2024June 17, 2024Tagged massachusetts, miss america, Miss America's Teen, Miss Massachusetts, Miss Massachusetts' Teen, music, newsLeave a comment

Maggie Leighton turned 17 on June 16, and got the best give she ever received when she was crowned Miss Massachusetts’ Teen, at the competition held in Fall River.

“Best birthday present ever,” she said. “I did not expect this.”

The Leominster High School student said she really enjoyed the competition and the other 15 contestants. Her day also started out a little frazzled.

Maggie Leighton stays #missamericafit by being a standout on the Leominster High School volleyball team. Photo by Steve Smith.

“I woke up really early this morning, to do my hair and makeup, and I came in my interview dress because I thought I was having my interview really early,” she said. “But it turned out I didn’t have it until 1:30 so I had to change back into my comfy clothes. I was really nervous.”

Leighton described the moment of anticipation when she and eventual first runner-up Laila Hosnander (Miss Worcester County’s Teen) were holding hands and awaiting the final announcement.

“She was the best person to be out there with me,” she said. “We sat right next to each other [in the dressing room] and she was so supportive and so nice. She’s amazing.”

Leighton had competed twice in the Miss Massachusetts Teen USA competition before winning the Miss Cranberry Country’s Teen competition on April 7. In 2023, she placed as 4th runner-up at the USA competition, and in March of this year, was 3rd runner-up.

The Miss Massachusetts top 5 – (l-r) 3rd runner-up Faith O’Hanlon, 1st runner-up Laila Hosnander, Miss Massachusetts’ Teen 2024 Maggie Leighton, 2nd runner-up Marianna McCallum, and 4th runner-up Na’Shajia Montiero. Photo by Steve Smith.

During the competition, she said she was confident, but also second-guessing herself a little.

“I was texting my parents during intermission, saying I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said, adding that her nerves were on edge when the top 5 was announced, and she was the last one called.

“That’s kind of scary,” she said. “It was weird, but a ‘whew’ moment.”

Leighton will be competing for the title of Miss America’s Teen in January 2025.

“It’s insanely exciting,” she said. “I’m pretty new to this organization, so I’m excited to be a titleholder for this state, and fulfill all of this duty.”

Leighton’s Community Service Initiative is Play On! Ensuring Access to Music Education.

“I’m such a big supporter of music organizations and education groups,” she said. “I feel like, as Miss Massachusetts’ Teen, I can do a lot more things around the Commonwealth. I would really like to plan more fundraisers and raise more awareness.”

Miss Cranberry Country’s Teen Maggie Leighton belts out Bon Jovi’s “Living On A Prayer” on her way to being crowned Miss Massachusetts’ Teen 2024. Photo by Steve Smith.

Leighton gave a vocal performance of “Living On A Prayer.”

Her new title may cement her competition plans for the future, beyond 2025, as she said she’s liking the Miss America Organization quite a bit at the moment.

“I’m definitely biased now, but I love the talent portion,” she said. “I’ve done music for so long, it was kind of natural for me.”

For more information, visit www.mmaoteen.org.

Shocked Ali Hornung wins Miss Rhode Island crown

May 13, 2024May 13, 2024Tagged miss america, Miss America's Teen, Miss Rhode Island, Miss Rhode Island's Teen, providence, rhode-island, united-statesLeave a comment

Clearly in a state of disbelief, Ali Hornung, 24, from Kingstown bested a field of talented and well-rounded women and took home the title of Miss Rhode Island 2024 in Providence on May 12.

“My mind is absolutely blown right now,” Hornung said, just moments after her crowning. “Just disbelief. I’ve been doing this since I was 17 years old.”

That was when she was competing for the Miss Rhode Island’s Teen title, in 2017. She did not place, and thought competing for the Miss crown would be too hard. She gave it a shot, however, in 2019 and earned second runner-up.

(L-r) Miss Rhode Island 2023 Caroline Parente, Miss Rhode Island 2024 Ali Hornung, Miss Rhode Island’s Teen 2024 Payton Mays, and Miss Rhode Island’s Teen 2023 Mia Daley. (Photo by Steve Smith)

“I came back the next year, 2021, and placed 4th runner-up. I came back in 2022 and placed 3rd runner-up,” she said, adding that she took 2023 off while studying abroad, in Vienna, Austria. Her 2024 experience was a little different than in the past.

“This is absolutely insane,” she said, but added that she may have had some help from above, in the form of her friend, Ella, who passed away in 2019 from leukemia. Ella was the inspiration for Hornung’s foundation, Glimmer of Hope, of which Hornung is the CEO.

Ella had lobbied American Girl to make bald dolls for children undergoing cancer treatment. To date, Glimmer of Hope has given out 600 bald dolls.

A stunned Ali Hornung learns that she is Miss Rhode Island 2024 as Lindsey Arruda (right) was announced as the first runner-up. (Photo by Steve Smith)

Hornung said she visited with a medium last year, who told her that Ella would help her be crowned Miss Rhode Island 2024.

“I still didn’t believe it,” she said. “She told me Ella was placing a crown on my head. For me, it’s always about the metaphorical crown that Ella places on my head every day when I get to work with these kids. Ella was more like a little sister for me.”

Hornung graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2023, having completed a five-year program with a triple major – international business, German and human development.

Among her plans for her year of service is to raise $75,000 for Glimmer of Hope, via a runway show, and to raise $15,000 for the Miss Rhode Island Organization.

Her disbelief, she said, is also in part because of the opportunities she’ll have to bring her CSI to the Miss America competition.

“It means that pediatric cancer gets to be recognized on a national stage,” she said. “It means that Ella’s name gets to be recognized on the national stage, and it means that a Jewish woman gets to be on the national stage, for the first time from Rhode Island.”

Back in the Ocean State, her plans have no limit.

“I’m going everywhere,” she said. “I’ve waited almost seven years for this. I’ve had plans. I’m going to do it all.”

Also crowned was the new Miss Rhode Island’s Teen, Payton Mays (not to be confused with Miss America’s Teen 2020 Payton May), 17, from Cranston. Mays competed in 2021, and returned triumphantly.

17-year-old Payton Mays was crowned Miss Rhode Island’s Teen 2024 on May 12. (Photo by Steve Smith)

“It’s an amazing feeling,” she said. “I’ve worked so hard for three years, leading up to this moment, getting ready to compete again.”

“To me, it’s an opportunity to talk about what’s passionate for me, which is pediatric cancer,” she said, adding that she happens to be part of the Glimmer of Hope’s junior advisory board, so she’ll continue to work closely with her new “big sister.”

She is also part of the Tomorrow Fund, a group at her school, Cranston High School West, which has raised more than $3,000, and plans to help that group have another big year.

Once she graduates, she plans to get a degree in creative writing, but hasn’t picked a school yet.

“I’m excited to see what options are out there,” she said.

Competing in the national competition in 2025, Mays said, is exciting and something she plans to start working for right away.

“Now that I have this, I’m going to hit the ground running over the next few months, working with my family and the board at Miss Rhode Island’s Teen,” she said. “I’m going to be doing everything to lead up to that moment.”

For more information, visit http://www.missri.org.

Mia Daley crowned Miss Rhode Island’s Teen

June 26, 2023Tagged miss america, Miss America's Teen, Miss Rhode Island, Miss Rhode Island's TeenLeave a comment

Mia Daley, a 16-year-old rising junior at LaSalle Academy, was crowned Miss Rhode Island’s Teen on June 25 at the Event Factory in Warwick.

Daley, from East Greenwich, had competed twice before, and was excited to learn she had this time won the crown.

“Honestly, it feels surreal,” she said. “I’ve been first runner-up in the past, and I’ve been truly blessed to receive that, but the fact that I actually did it – won Miss Rhode Island’s Teen – is truly surreal.”

She’s also a little bit excited about the chance to compete at the Miss America’s Teen competition next January.

“I am looking forward to it beyond words,” she said. “A dream of mine has always been to perform on a national stage. Now, I get the opportunity to do that, and I am incredibly thankful to the organization.”

Daley’s Community Service Initiative is The Anxiety Antidote: The Power of Social and Emotional Learning, and she has raised more than $7,000 for the cause, with the goal of infusing that social-emotional initiative into school curriculums. She also wants to actively recruit other young women into the Miss Rhode Island’s Teen program.

With the support of the other four contestants, Mia Daley learns that she is the new Miss Rhode Island’s Teen.

“I want to go from five girls on this stage to 50 girls on this stage,” she said. “As big of a dream as that is, I feel like it’s possible. I want to get into schools and promote this organization, because my life just changed and I want other girls to have this opportunity, as well.”

For more information, visit http://www.missri.org.

Emma-mazing! Gibney wins Miss Massachusetts’ Teen title

May 8, 2023May 8, 2023Tagged miss america, Miss America's Teen, Miss Blackstone Valley's Teen, Miss Massachusetts, Miss Massachusetts' Teen, Miss Worcester County Scholarship OrganizationLeave a comment

Outlasting a field of 19 other extremely accomplished young ladies, Emma Gibney was crowned Miss Massachusetts’ Teen 2023 at BMC Durfee High School in Fall River on May 7.

Gibney was the first to hold the title of Miss Blackstone Valley’s Teen, which she won at the Miss Worcester County Competition on Feb. 18. She previously was the first to hold the title of Miss Worcester County’s Outstanding Teen 2022 (The Miss America organization dropped the “outstanding” from its teen titles earlier this year).

Calling the competition an “up and down” day, Gibney said she didn’t feel good about her private interview with the judges, but, apparently the judges disagreed, as they selected her via the final ballot, after she placed in the top five.

The daughter of Tim and Nicole Gibney, Emma is a 17-year-old junior at New Bedford High School, and a standout varsity tennis player.

When the last two standing were Gibney and Na’Shajia Montiero, the eventual winner said she still wasn’t thinking she would get the crown.

“I told her that I loved her. I told her that she would be a great Miss Massachusetts’ Teen, because, honestly, I didn’t think it was going to be me,” Gibney said. “I think every girl who was out here deserves the crown and deserves to be in that position. To be able to realize that it was me…it really hasn’t sunk in yet, but when it does, it’s going to be a great year, and I’m super-excited for it.”

When the final announcement was made, Gibney said she experienced several emotions.

“I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, it was a lot of mixed emotions all at once,” she said. “I fell to the ground and I really didn’t think it was me. I thought they mixed up the cards, like a Steve Harvey moment, but it wasn’t, and I’m so happy to be here.”

Gibney plans to continue to work with her Community Service Initiative, S.T.A.Y – Start The Awareness Young, suicide prevention, which was inspired by the loss of her cousin, Tyler, to suicide in 2018. Her goal is to not only bring awareness to young people’s mental health issues, but to talk to legislators and advocate for more funding for the state’s suicide hotline, and she may now have the chance to bring that impact to a national level.

“I’m going to really bring that to the stage at Miss America’s Teen,” she said.

For her talent performance, Gibney dramatically performed an original spoken-word piece, titled “Stay,” that echoes her CSI while taking viewers on a journey of someone giving a loved one reasons to avoid taking their own life.

Gibney thanked her local program, including the support she’s received from her sister titleholders, Miss Worcester County Gabrielle Griffiths, Miss Blackstone Valley Natalie Erhensbeck and Miss Worcester County’s Teen Kayla O’Hara, as well as her family and good friends, many of whom were in the audience as she was crowned.

“They come to every single competition, and deal with my crying and my laughter and everything afterwards,” she said. “They’re really my backbone, and why I continue to compete and I why I’ve done well. Even this title here today is because of my local director [who happened to be this reporter], my local board, and all of my family and friends.”

When asked when it will sink in that she’ll compete for the national title, Gibney said, “probably in like a week.”

“I think it’s going to take a little bit for me to get used to,” she said.

For more information, visit http://www.missmass.org or http://www.mmaoteen.org.