Pageant training sessions go by many names: pageant boot camp, pageant prep, and pageant school, among others. Recently, a local pageant in Iowa held their own session called “Pageant School: Road to the Crown.” Ashley Brown, director of the Miss Pearl Pageant, and Kindra Plett, director of the Miss Muscatine Pageant, teamed up to create this event. From their experience, you can learn hot to organize your own pageant training session to benefit contestants in your area.

Learn how to organize your own pageant training session to benefit contestants in your area.

Recruiting keynote speakers is first on the to-do list. The Iowa pageant school formed a panel of speakers. Your speakers should have experience of their own in different aspects of pageant life. You may even want to include contestants or former contestants on your panel. Hold a Q&A session as well as a direct audience address.

“It was a great session, and it gave the audience a chance to interact with the panelists," says Ashley of the Iowa panel and Q&A session.

Putting on a pageant school is a lot of work. Ask other pageants in surrounding counties to join you in your efforts. In Iowa, two local boards coordinated the pageant school, but Ashley and Kindra were fortunate to receive support from the entire state in setting up the pageant school.

“We reached out to all the locals and the Miss Iowa state board for their help with marketing and really spreading the word across the state,” says Ashley. “The reception and support from everyone was wonderful.”

Choose a venue that will fit your budget and the size of your guest list. The venue for the pageant school was Geneva Golf and Country Club, who worked closely with Ashley and Kindra to keep overhead costs very low.

Pageant schools are an excellent resource for contestants and volunteers, and a wonderful way to introduce the community to the Miss America Organization. In its first year, Ashley and Kindra were thrilled to see the event take shape. In the future, they have hopes that it may become both educational and lucrative.

With a little advance planning and the help of your pageant family, you can have your very own pageant school event–a benefit to everyone involved.

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