PRATT, Kan. (KAKE) - The 2024 Miss Kansas is Miss Butler County’s Alexis Smith. Her community service platform was Respect Reclaimed: advocating for healthy relationships. Smith’s talent was ventriloquism singing with two puppets. 

"I am so excited," Smith said. "Coming in this week I had no idea what the outcome was gonna be but I am so excited to be the next Miss Kansas.

Smith is the third Black woman to ever win Miss Kansas.

"The best part about winning is I am going to be able to represent women that look like me and help eliminate domestic violence in all of our Kansas communities," she said.

The 2024 Miss Kansas is Miss Butler County’s Alexis Smith. Her community service platform was Respect Reclaimed: advocating for healthy relationships. Smith’s talent was ventriloquism singing with two puppets. 
The 2024 Miss Kansas is Miss Butler County’s Alexis Smith. Her community service platform was Respect Reclaimed: advocating for healthy relationships. Smith’s talent was ventriloquism singing with two puppets.   

 

Service, style, scholarship, success, sisterhood: this describes the Miss Kansas pageant.  

“And that’s really what it's all about- empowering women to be the best that they can be,” said Lisa Perez-Miller, long-time volunteer and former executive director of Miss Kansas. 

This year is the 82nd Miss Kansas pageant, where the 85th Miss Kansas will be crowned. 

“It’s an annual event I feel like the community gets excited about,” said Stephanie Harris, executive director. 

But it takes a whole lot to get the stage ready for competition. 

It takes more than 100 volunteers longer than 2 weeks to fully set up for the Miss Kansas pageant held at Pratt Community College.

And the pageant wasn’t always there. For years the Miss Kansas pageant happened right here in downtown Pratt at the Municipal building.

This year 25 young women are competing for the crown- but in years past it's been anywhere from 18 to 40 women. The delegates can gain a lot from the experience.

 

 “When I was Miss Kansas it taught me how to do my own bookings and public speaking, I was my own travel and logistics coordinator. And through that I did business development, marketing, PR, sales and I’ve taken all of those skill sets as an entrepreneur into all my endeavors since then,” said Megan Bushell-Wehrie, Miss Kansas 2004

Miss Kansas, it's not a beauty pageant, but rather a scholarship pageant where young women showcase interviewing skills, community service, evening wear, health and fitness, and talent. The talent can be either a performing talent or a storytelling talent called HERstory.

“It's an opportunity to tell a story about something that’s important to them or something that has influenced their community service initiative,” said Sue Givens, show producer. 

Every single competitor gets a scholarship. This year the organization is giving out nearly $60,000.

“There are so many women that go through this organization and end up going to college debt-free because of this. They have lifelong comradery, they have incredible opportunities waiting for them because of the platform that this gives them,” said Hannah Wagner, choreographer and Miss Kansas 2015. 

 

 

The Miss Kansas pageant teaches young women to speak up for what they feel passionate about- each woman chooses a community service initiative to shine a light on spreading awareness on issues like mental health, disability inclusion, and bullying.

“So I think it really does help young women to hone in on things they need to improve and those are qualities that are going to last you the rest of your life. And it allows women to celebrate their strengths,” said Tara Dawn Holland-Christensen, Miss Kansas 1996 and Miss America 1997. 

The pageant has changed a lot over the past 80 years. The swimsuit part of the contest was retired in 2018. The delegates used to stay in host families' homes in Pratt instead of in the dorms. There have also been changes in how it’s judged, and the point system. 

“Basically the heart is still the same for what we’re trying to accomplish in the Miss Kansas pageant. It’s just been modernized a little bit to accommodate the new generation,” said Christensen. 

But what’s it actually like to win the crown? 

“I wish we could tell you what it feels like but we don’t remember. It’s such a blur, when that crown goes on your head there’s nothing you can remember other than shock, awe, and disbelief but I can tell you that everything that comes to us afterward makes up for everything we don’t remember from the beginning,” said Wagner.