Review of the Miss America 2012 Pageant

Miss Wisconsin Laura Kaeppeler from Kenosha, Wisconsin was crowned Miss America 2012 at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The final night of the 2012 Miss America Pageant was broadcast live from Las Vegas on ABC. Laura's triumphant walk across the stage was just the beginning of a journey that will take her to every corner of the country during her year of service as Miss America 2012. Miss America 2012 will spend her year touring the country to encourage all young women to pursue a college education, and will focus on driving interest in the arts, as well as science, technology, engineering and math (also known as STEM) education. The Miss America Organization will work with national and community partners to create an unconventional approach to driving young women’s interest in STEM. Their efforts coincide with the national momentum to target female students who are currently underrepresented in STEM professions. In addition, she will travel approximately 20,000 miles each month speaking to audiences about her platform Circles of Support - Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents and acting as the official National Goodwill Ambassador for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals, is the national platform partner of the Miss America Organization. Laura is a graduate of Carthage College. Her scholastic ambition is to obtain a Master's degree in Speech and Language Pathology and she ultimately hopes to become a speech therapist. Along with the title of Miss America 2012, Laura won a $50,000 scholarship to continue her education. For the talent portion of the competition, Laura performed an operatic rendition of "Il Bacio." The first runner-up was Miss Oklahoma Betty Thompson who earned a $25,000 scholarship. For her talent, she performed an Irish Step Dance to "Warriors" and her personal platform is MILK, It Really Does a Body Good! Betty was also the winner of ABC's America's Choice an online competition where viewers got the opportunity to vote for their favorite Miss America contestant. The contestant was announced at the beginning of the Miss America broadcast and became the 1st finalist to compete in the live finale. Second runner-up honors and a $20,000 scholarship were awarded to Miss New York Kaitlin Monte. Her talent was a vocal performance of "Disneyland," and her personal platform is "That's Enough! Coming Together to End Bullying." Miss America 2012

• Miss Wisconsin, Laura Kaeppeler

Top 5

• Miss Oklahoma, Betty Thompson
• Miss New York, Kaitlin Monte
• Miss Arizona, Jennifer Sedler
• Miss California, Noelle Freeman

Top 10 (In Random Order)

• Miss Arizona, Jennifer Sedler
• Miss Illinois, Hannah Smith
• Miss Oklahoma, Betty Thompson
• Miss Texas, Kendall Morris
• Miss Wisconsin, Laura Kaeppeler
• Miss New York, Kaitlin Monte
• Miss Louisiana, Hope Anderson
• Miss Tennessee, Erin Hatley
• Miss Iowa, Jessica Pray
• Miss California, Noelle Freeman

Top 13 (In Random Order)

• Miss Louisiana, Hope Anderson
• Miss Iowa, Jessica Pray
• Miss Illinois, Hannah Smith
• Miss South Carolina, Bree Boyce
• Miss New York, Kaitlin Monte
• Miss Wisconsin, Laura Kaeppeler
• Miss Florida, Kristina Janolo
• Miss Tennessee, Erin Hatley
• Miss Arizona, Jennifer Sedler
• Miss Texas, Kendall Morris
• Miss California, Noelle Freeman
• Miss Oklahoma, Betty Thompson
• Miss Alabama, Courtney Porter

Semi Finalists (In Random Order)

• Miss Oklahoma, Betty Thompson
• Miss South Carolina, Bree Boyce
• Miss Florida, Kristina Janolo
• Miss New York, Kaitlin Monte
• Miss Iowa, Jessica Pray
• Miss Texas, Kendall Morris
• Miss Virginia, Elizabeth Crot
• Miss Illinois, Hannah Smith
• Miss Arizona, Jennifer Sedler
• Miss Alabama, Courtney Porter
• Miss Tennessee, Erin Hatley
• Miss Wisconsin, Laura Kaeppeler
• Miss North Carolina, Hailey Best
• Miss California, Noelle Freeman
• Miss Louisiana, Hope Anderson

This year's Quality of Life Award winner is Miss Kentucky Ann Blair Thornton. Ann Blair was recognized for her work on her platform, "Alzheimer's Awareness and Research" and she will receive a $6,000 scholarship. The announcement was made at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino during Friday's Miss America press conference and marks the last day of preliminary competition for the 2012 Miss America Pageant. Ann Blair has had the opportunity to call to action tens of thousands of Kentuckians this year with her platform work. As a teenager, in 2006 struggling with a beloved grandfather suffering from the disease, she discovered the need for Alzheimer's support groups for a younger generation and founded a teenage support group: ALZ Teens. In 2009, Ann Blair established a memorial fund honoring her grandfather, with an online donation component. She has lobbied Kentucky State Legislature to pass multiple bills promoting the Alzheimer's Association's efforts, teamed up with college students to raise over $25,000 for research, and organized her hometown Alzheimer's Memory Walk, which raised over $172,000 for the Alzheimer's Association. As Miss Kentucky, she has gathered the names of people she has met this year who are currently battling the disease and those who have already lost the fight. One by one, she has sewn them to the back of her sash so that she will be continually reminded of her purpose. The first-runner up is Miss New Hampshire Regan Hartley whose personal platform issue is "Stand Up: Bullying Awareness in Our Community." During the past three years, Regan has spent more than 2,000 hours working to combat bullying: by educating others on the subject of bullying, encouraging open discussion between educators, parents and children, and serving as the spokesperson for numerous anti-bullying efforts. She has lobbied for passage of New Hampshire's first modern bullying law, House Bill 1523 in June of 2010. She has also spoken to children about the importance of treating yourself and others with respect. The second runner-up is Miss Michigan Elizabeth Wertenberger, whose personal platform is "Continue to Dream - Giving Hope to Children with Chronic Illness. Being diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis inspired Elizabeth to make her platform a life-long mission to inspire other children dealing with the disease. Elizabeth has encouraged people to join her at the Annual Arthritis Walk, bringing over 100 people to walk with her. She has spoken to the Juvenile Arthritis Association, telling her personal story to groups, so that children who suffer from the disease do not feel that it defines how they should grow up or develop. The Quality of Life Awards were introduced in 1988 to recognize contestants who excel in their commitment to community service. The awards are available to each of the 53 contestants competing for the title of Miss America 2012. In order to be considered for the Quality of Life Award, contestants must have submitted an application describing their involvement with Children's Miracle Network, the national platform of the Miss America Organization, and their own personal platform issue. An honorable mention goes to the remaining five finalists: Miss Arkansas Kristen Glover, whose platform is "Second Chances Through Mentoring;" Miss Hawaii Lauren Cheape, whose platform is "C.A.R.E.: Collegiate Athletes Reaching Everyone;" Miss Minnesota Natalie Davis, whose platform is "Autism Awareness: The Missing Piece;" Miss New York Kaitlin Monte, whose platform is "Anti-Bullying Through Youth Leadership;" and Miss Ohio Ellen Bryan, whose platform is When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors: Promoting Lightning Awareness." The fourpoints Scholarship Award is a $2,000 award offered to all of the 53 contestants. Each of the contestants had to write an essay describing how THEY represent the Four Points of the Crown which are Service, Scholarship, Success and Style. The winner of this award is Miss Idaho Genevieve Nutting. Miss Wisconsin Laura Kaeppeler was named Tuesday night's preliminary Talent winner for her Operatic Vocal performance of "Il Bacio," during the first night of competition of the 2012 Miss America Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Laura will receive a $2,000 scholarship. Also in the spotlight was Miss Utah Danica Olsen, who was the preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness winner in a Deaville Kompliqué swimsuit with 18K gold and Swarovski crystal accents. Danica will receive a $1,000 scholarship. Laura started singing in the 4th grade. Once she got into high school and college, she decided it was something she wanted to pursue as a career. She studied music in college as an undergraduate and currently teaches private piano and voice lessons. When asked what was the most important thing Danica did to prepare herself to be up on stage in a swimsuit and to promote a healthy lifestyle, she said it is all about discipline, getting up early in the morning and pushing yourself further than you think you can go. Eating right is important and knowing that presentation is everything when you walk into a room.   Miss Oklahoma Betty Thompson was named Wednesday night's preliminary Talent winner for her Irish Step Dance performance to "Warriors," during the second night of competition. Betty will receive a $2,000 scholarship. Betty has been dancing Irish Step Dance for 12 years. Also in the spotlight was Miss Texas Kendall Morris, who was the preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness winner in a Monte Carlo Kompliqué swimsuit. Kendall will receive a $1,000 scholarship. Kendall stated this was the first time has won a swimsuit award and she really had to work for it. She encouraged girls to go with your body type and be the best you can be. Her healthy diet consists of high protein and low carbs, which is very typical of the Miss America contestants. Every day she does some form of exercise Miss Hawaii Lauren Cheape was named Thursday night's preliminary Talent winner for her jump rope routine performance to "Hawaii Five-O," during the third night of competition of the 2012 Miss America Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Lauren will receive a $2,000 scholarship. Also in the spotlight was Miss New York Kaitlin Monte, who was the preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness winner in a Monte Carlo Kompliqué swimsuit. Kaitlin will receive a $1,000 scholarship. In an interview with Chairman of the Board, Sam Haskell, Kaitlin shared that a year ago she found out she had a gluten allergy and this led to a major lifestyle change. She didn’t work with a trainer for the Miss America pageant. She did her fitness herself because she wanted to develop a lifestyle program she could do year after year for long term results. Lauren has been jumping rope since age 5. A demonstration team from the American Heart Association came to her school and she wanted to be just like them. For Miss America, Lauren worked with René Bibaud, a 5 time World Rope Jumping Champion and works for Cirque Du Soleil, to develop her routine. All photos and information is courtesy of the Miss America Organization.