Marna Franklin

Freshman Kennedy Frankly is crowned Miss Northwest Oklahoma City’s Outstanding Teen in nearly November.

Harding Charter Prep is accustomed to having talented students who excel in and out of school. However, recently one freshman excelled so much that she was recognized as Miss Northwest Oklahoma City’s Outstanding Teen.

On Saturday October 27, Kennedy Franklin competed alongside 11 other girls in the Miss Northwest Oklahoma City’s Outstanding Teen Pageant.  Although it was Franklin’s first pageant she won and was crowned Miss OKC’s Outstanding Teen.

“It was amazing, I didn’t even expect, I actually thought the runner up was the best girl there, but when you’re judging yourself, you never think you’re the best,” Franklin said.

The pageant took a lot of preparation. “There’s a lot of shopping,” Franklin said.

The pageant included a talent portion in which Franklin showed off her singing skills. She said the song took her over a year and a half to perfect. She also estimates to have spent about 35 hours preparing for the interview portion of the competition.

Franklin said she enjoyed the ability to be able to show off her strengths and good qualities without seeming arrogant. She also noted the downsides of pageants.

“Some of the girls are jerks. There’s lots of drama,” Franklin said.

Franklin says that there are good things that can be taken away from being pageants. She says that she can gain life skills as well as tips for public speaking and being interviewed. However she said her favorite part was working on her platform of teaching kids the importance of reading.

Franklin will go on to compete in the Miss Oklahoma’s Outstanding Teen Pageant which will take place in Tulsa, in June 2013. There she has the opportunity to win and go on the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen pageant in Florida.