Seckman High School sophomore Leah Beilman, 17, recently was crowned Missouri Miss Amazing teen and will go on to compete for a national title.
The Miss Amazing Pageant, a nonprofit organization that holds pageants for girls and women with disabilities, has six categories. It also has chapters in 35 states, according to its website.
The organization’s pageants offer contestants the chance to share their ideas and ambitions, the organization’s executive director Jordan Somer said in a letter.
As the teen winner, Leah, the daughter of Cheri Beilman and Mike Beilman, received a $1,000 scholarship.
Leah, who lives in Arnold, will represent Missouri in the national competition, to be held July 29-31 in Nashville, Tenn.
She will be among 150 people competing in the national pageant.
“Leah is very excited about being chosen to represent Miss Amazing,” her mom said. “She takes her job seriously and is anxious to volunteer and help anyway she can.”
As part of the pageant competition, Miss Amazing contestants had to demonstrate their passion, similar to the talent component of other pageants. The contestants had to get creative since each one had just 90 seconds to show off her skills.
For her presentation, Leah showed the audience how to make no-bake cookies.
Cheri said Leah also was interviewed during the pageant.
Cooking and competing in pageants aren’t Leah’s only interests.
“My hobbies are taking walks, calling my friends, playing with my neighbors, going hiking and biking,” she said.
Leah also volunteers at the Helping Hands for Horses, a nonprofit organization that offers equestrian therapy to adults and children with disabilities.
Leah’s job there is to walk alongside children riding the horses.
“I volunteer there every Wednesday,” she said. “I’m a side walker.”
Leah recently started working at Applebee’s in Arnold.
She plans to attend the SUCCEED program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis after graduating high school.
SUCCEED helps people with disabilities who attend college to complete a two-year-long program for a Chancellor’s Certificate.
In order to compete in the national competition, each contestant must raise roughly $4,000 for the trip’s expenses, as well as spend time volunteering at an event each month.