Teen Division

 READ BELOW AND THEN CLICK HERE TO ENTER:  MISS RAPID CITY'S OUTSTANDING TEEN

2023 Miss Rapid City’s Outstanding Teen

Candidate Guide

Welcome to the Miss Rapid City’s Outstanding Teen Pageant. This local pageant is a preliminary event that will qualify the titleholders to participate in the Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen Pageant held May 30-June 1, 2024, in Brookings. The young lady chosen in Brookings moves on to compete in the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Pageant in Orlando, Florida.

This guide will give you information on preparing for the pageant. Sara Frankenstein will be your contact person. Her email address is smfranken@hotmail.com. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact her.

The Miss Rapid City and Miss Rapid City’s Outstanding Teen Pageant will be held together on Saturday, February 24, 2024, at 6:00pm at the Performing Arts Center (610 Columbus Street) in Rapid City, SD. Check with Executive Director Sara Frankenstein for schedules and other information.  After we have received your entry, you will receive a Master Schedule indicating what happens all day. Please feel free to visit www.misssd.org and www.missamerica.org for more details on the Miss America system, the largest provider of scholarships for women in the world.

Eligibility The Miss Rapid City’s Outstanding Teen Pageant is open to female South Dakota residents that live, work or attend school within South Dakota and meet the following age requirements:

• 2024-2025 eligibility "Miss Teen" cycle:  you must have been born during the years 2006 - 2010 

The number of teen titles given will depend on the number of contestants. Those titles may be Miss Rapid City’s Outstanding Teen, Miss Rushmore’s Outstanding Teen, Miss Badlands’ Outstanding Teen, Miss Pasque’s Outstanding Teen, Miss Once Upon a Festival’s Outstanding Teen, and Miss Black Hills Gold’s Outstanding Teen. All titles given at these events are open to female South Dakota residents that live, work or attend school anywhere within South Dakota and meet the age requirements indicated above.

Scoring and Judging

Talent (20% of total score)

Contestants will perform a 90-second maximum routine of their own choosing. Some possible talents include but are not limited to vocal, dancing, gymnastics, instrumental music, monologue/acting, baton twirling, martial arts, boxing, cheer dance, weight lifting, poetry recital, speed painting, roller blading, hoop routine, indigenous dance, and any other talent that can be performed live and on stage. We no longer allow aerial silks for talent.  A candidate may choose to do an onstage monologue called Herstory.  Click here for more details on 90-second Story requirements.

Private Interview (30% of total score)

Each contestant will participate in an individual 8-minute interview with a panel of 5 judges. Contestants will be questioned on information she provided on her resume, as well as regarding her education, career goals, family life, platform, and other interests.

Questions will be directed to determine the contestant’s ability to fulfill the job of Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen.

Criteria for Scoring:

▪ Qualities and attributes of a Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen

▪ Overall first impression

▪ Validated aspirations, opinions and responses in context

▪ Poise, personal appearance and attractiveness

▪ Personality, intelligence, style and emotional control

▪ Speech, vocabulary and grammar

▪ Confident and commanding presence

▪ Knowledge, understanding and ability to articulate her platform issue

▪ Sense of accomplishment

▪ Ability to fulfill job responsibilities of Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen

Evening Wear and On-Stage Question (20% of total score)

Evening Wear and On Stage Question will be combined for a total of 20%. Contestants appear on stage in a dress/gown of their choosing, representative of what she would wear to a formal event.

Criteria for Scoring:

▪ Quality and attributes

▪ Overall first impression

▪ Sense of confidence, personality and stage presence

▪ Walk, posture, carriage and grace

▪ Appropriateness of attire and sense of style

▪ Sense of attractiveness, beauty and charm

▪ Extemporaneous responses to On-Stage Questions

▪ Did the contestant answer the question in the context in which it was asked?

▪ Can she handle the pressure of speaking on stage in front of an audience?

▪ Will younger people see her as a role model who is reflective of the best of today’s generation?

Fitness in Rebel Sportswear (20% of total score)

This is an opportunity for the judges to get a glimpse of the contestants’ daily routine and lifestyle. For this phase of competition, the contestants will perform a physical fitness routine in matching sportswear. The physical fitness routine has a segment of all contestants dancing together, then individual segments for each contestant to demonstrate her physical fitness. Don’t worry – it’s very easy to learn and zero dance experience is needed. You will likely have to do a pushup or two, some calisthenics, and other very basic movements. Each contestant will wear the same style of active wear. Bring black shorts, a plain red T-shirt, and tennis shoes for this routine.

Criteria for Scoring:

▪ Quality and attributes

▪ Overall first impression

▪ Statement of strong physical fitness and health

▪ Sense of attractiveness and presence

▪ Display of energy, charisma and expression

▪ Sense of confidence and composure

Evening Wear (20% of total score)

On Stage Question (10% of total score)

Additional information will be emailed to you by the Executive Director Sara Frankenstein. However, don’t hesitate to contact her if you have questions. 

CAUTION TO ALL CONTESTANTS THAT USE SOCIAL MEDIA SITES.

Many people use social media sites as a means to communicate with their friends. Please remember that items posted on these sites can easily be viewed by others. Other viewers may include pageant judges and potential employers. Some postings may not portray the image you would like to have of yourself as you strive to become Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen and Miss America’s Outstanding Teen. If you do choose to be on social media, you may wish to password-protect it to only close friends, or if you choose for it to be open, please remember that everything contained on the page (photographs, quotations, and friend comments) is a reflection of you as a Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen contestant. Please make sure all public content adheres to the image Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen should uphold, as detailed in the contestant contract.

When your official contestant paperwork is fully completed and received, you will be placed as a contestant in this local pageant. Phone calls, e-mails requests, etc., WILL NOT be considered as official entries. Official paperwork includes the fact sheet/resume and the contestant’s contract. Return this paperwork to your contact person.

It takes us some time to put together the program book we sell at the door. Please email Sara Frankenstein the following by as soon as possible:

● A color headshot or head and shoulder photo

● Your contestant fact sheet

● Your parents’ names (how you would like them listed in the program book)

● Your age

● Your talent type (“flute”, “lyrical dance”, “cheer dance”, “classical piano”, “comedic monologue”, “martial arts” etc. - your exact talent song/name is not needed) or Herstory

● Hometown

● Your school, university, homeschool, or place of employment

HOW TO SIGN UP: 1. Click this link: www.missamerica.org/signup/

2. Click "Miss America Program Registration" and pay the $35 fee to register for the Miss America System (one-time fee).

3. Click "2023 Local Competition Registration" (Miss candidates pay the $75 local registration fee, for each local you compete in, but Teens do not have to pay). This is where you will type which local you want to compete in (Miss Rapid City).

You will need to create a personal resume not exceeding two pages. This can be filled with whatever you feel best represents you and your background. The resume can look any way you would like (whatever font, colors, format you like is fine).

You will also need to write a social impact initiative (previously called your “platform”) statement in one page or less. This will outline what you will advocate as a titleholder, what you have done in that area, what you hope to do, or whatever else you would like to talk about regarding your social impact initiative. Your social impact initiative can be anything you are passionate about, something you feel needs more attention, a charity, an organization with which you volunteer, etc. If you are just starting, you could pick a topic that has affected you personally, write how it affected you, what action you could or have taken about it, and what you could communicate to others as a titleholder. Pick something important to you that you like to talk about.

You will also need a headshot and will need to fill out the contract. As for the headshot, it does not need to be anything fancy. You can even take a quick photo on your phone to submit. Just be sure to have a plain background.

We hope this information helps prepare you for competition in our upcoming local pageants. We thank you for your interest and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

The Miss Rapid City Scholarship Foundation