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NANTICOKE — Isabella Kropiewnicki has been selected to participate in the 2015 Miss Junior Teen pageant this weekend in Philadelphia.
Kropiewnicki, 13, was anonymously referred for the 2015 Miss Junior Teen pageant and sent a letter about her referral. Kropiewnicki had an interview earlier in the year at the Holiday Inn – East Mountain Inn where she was selected to be part of a contingent to represent the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area.
According to Isabella’s mother, Christine, this is the first Miss Junior Teen pageant in which Isabella will compete. The pageant is not associated with the National American Miss (NAM) pageants.
The competition includes a personal interview on Saturday and a casual and formal wear modeling routine in the division of Miss Junior Teen (ages 13–15), one of four age divisions.
If Kropiewnicki wins the title of Miss Junior Teen this weekend, she will represent Philadelphia and the surrounding communities (Allentown, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey) at the National Pageant in Orlando, Florida.
The national competition has a share of $30,000 in prizes.
Kropiewnicki’s story
Kropiewnicki has been participating in NAM pageantry for three years and was surprised when she received notice of the referral.
She keeps busy four days a week with dance, which includes ballet, tap and pointe technique, at Joan Harris Centre in Luzerne. She has been dancing for 10 years and will soon begin Irish step dance.
She is also a member of the Greater Nanticoke Area chorus and field hockey team.
An injury in her leg had Kropiewnicki sidelined from field hockey and on crutches for two and a half months but, according to her mother, she is getting “back to normal.”
Kropiewnicki’s favorite part of the pageants is “meeting new people and keeping in contact with friends from previous pageants.”
Kropiewnicki would like to become a pediatric oncology nurse because she loves children and wants to “help them feel better.”
Her advice to those thinking about doing pagentry is “don’t be afraid to do things” and “don’t be out to win, just have fun.”