The lights are shining bright. “Girl on Fire” is booming through the speakers as the curtain lifts. The gym fills with the screams and claps of the audience as the girls are revealed in their Girl On Fire theme wear. All twenty nine Miss Chapin contestants are standing on stage, red dresses sparkling and shining as each girl shows off her unique style.

Mr. Ames and 2012 Miss Chapin winner, Sarah Roof welcomes everyone out to the event. The contestants walk down the stage. The freshman, sophomores, juniors and finally seniors walk down the stage by grade level as they are announced.  After a short performance from a local dance group, each girl gets her moment to shine on the stage as her escort walks her out. She introduces herself, tells who her escort is, her number and what class she is representing that evening.

After a short intermission, Mr. Ames and Sarah Roof announce the winners. K. Lee Graham is crowned the 2013 Miss Chapin.

Graham said, “No matter how much you prepare, you honestly are never guaranteed to win. I decided that whatever happened I would be happy because I gave it my all.”

K. Lee has been doing the occasional pageant for the last 5 or 6 years. She participated in Miss Chapin last year, after just moving here in hopes to get more involved in the Chapin community.

Graham said that by winning Miss Chapin, she’s hoping to use her title to promote the school’s new bullying campaign “I am we.”

She said, “I hope that at the end of my year people will recognize Miss Chapin as at least one person that they know they can go to and always have a friend in.”

Sometimes pageants can be seen as a popularity contest, and that only the “popular” girls do it, but Graham has a different perspective on popularity than some. She said, “I think ‘pageant girls’ are often identified with a negative stereotype; however I’ve found this to be not at all true for most girls. My definition of popular is being well liked by the people you encounter. This should be achieved by your attitude and the way you treat people, not whether or not you have a crown on your head.”

Although many were sad they weren’t the one taking the crown home with them that night, many feel the whole experience was a great one.

Junior Erin Fitzpatrick said, “It was a great learning experience. It was fun getting up on stage in front of everyone. It was something I’ve always wanted to do. I think it would be more fun if I had friends doing it with me though.”

Although few won, all the girls who got up there represented CHS and as a school everyone is proud of them and what they’ve done. Congratulations ladies, you truly are on fire.