The reigning Miss Southwest Michigan, Katlynn Kennedy, of Buchanan, will be leaving soon to compete for Miss Michigan at the Frauenthal Center of Performing Arts in Muskegon.

Kennedy, 19, will vie for the title along with 33 other candidates from all over the state on June 18. Contestants compete in the areas of interview, fitness, evening gown and onstage question during two nights of preliminary competition. The points are tallied and the top 10 are announced on Saturday June 20, when a new Miss Michigan is crowned.

Miss Michigan goes on to compete for the title of Miss America this coming September in Atlantic City.

Kennedy was named Miss Southwest in October and is currently attending St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame. She is the daughter of Chris Kennedy and Pat Kennedy.

Her platform is “Childhood Challenges” and she will perform a lyrical dance to Ed Sheeran’s, “Thinking out Loud.”

The Miss Southwest Michigan Scholarship Pageant is the only preliminary competition in Berrien County that leads to Miss Michigan and is the only local official affiliate to the Miss America organization.

To be eligible to compete for Miss Southwest women must be residents of Berrien, Van Buren or Cass County.

As Miss Southwest, Kennedy received a $2,000 scholarship, and starting June 18 she will compete for more than $10,000 in scholarships through the Miss Michigan Pageant.

 

About Miss America

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation’s leading achievement programs and the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women.

Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance.

This assistance is not just for the handful of young women who become Miss America, but is available to the over 12,000 young women who compete in the state and local competitions as well.