When the annual National Miss Amazing Summit — a pageant for girls with disabilities — rolled into Rosemont, Illinois, this summer, two girls from Lindbergh Schools took the stage: Kensley Stone and Sofia Vitale. Both were crowned Missouri Queens in their respective categories in April, and now they bear the title of National Princesses.
Prior to the state competition in April, Kensley, who was 12 years old at the time, was nervous about the pageant. This was her first pageant; she signed up on the last day that registration was open, thanks to a booth she and her mother, Erin Stone, saw at a local information fair. But when the time came, she went on stage and won as Missouri Queen.
“I told her that if she showed her true self, there could be a really great chance that she could win,” Erin said. “Then she got crowned Missouri Queen. That gave her so much more confidence to move on toward nationals in July.”
Kensley competed in the pre-teen category, which included an interview with the judges and a talent portion, which was called the “Passion Presentation.” She chose to sing Christina Perry’s “A Thousand Years.” Erin says that singing is one of Kensley’s passions and talents.
“We tell her that her superpower is listening to a song one time and being able to sing its lyrics,” Erin said. “She’s schooled me on music that I’ve listened to my entire life.”
Prior to the pageant, Kensley had performed in community theatre productions, and she’s currently in a drama class.
“Being able to perform again was fun for her,” Erin said. “She was nervous, but she caught the eye of one of the judges who was crying, and that made her smile and come out with full force.”
Like most pageants, there was also an evening wear portion. Kensley wore a black and white halter dress.
“She’s never dressed up that way before, so she felt really pretty,” Erin said. “And she was.”
Each contestant was named a National Princess, and they were given a crown and trophy to celebrate their participation.
The Miss Amazing pageant endeavors to bridge connections between girls with disabilities and raise disability awareness. Many of the girls who compete work locally or even nationally on projects to uplift their communities. Among other events, Kensley will make appearances at Lindbergh’s homecoming celebrations, held the week of Sept, 15-20, and the SunCrest Fest, held on Oct. 25.
“Her objective was to meet other girls that ‘got’ her,” Erin said. “She’s made a couple of really great friends that she’s kept in touch with. She really cherishes being in a room where all the diagnoses are different — the foundation of feeling different and people not understanding you just melts away. It allows all these girls, and her, to be who they were unapologetically.”