WORCESTER, Mass.– When Grace Steward was tasked with coming up with a senior project during her final year at Bedford High School in New Hampshire, she wasn't sure at first what she wanted to do. The parameters required her to complete a yearlong project that benefited both herself and the community as a whole. Her inspiration ultimately came from her experience working with adaptive students, including time spent with an adaptive cheer team and in adaptive physical education classes.

"I knew I wanted something with that," said Steward, "because I really enjoy helping them."

Luckily for Steward, she had the perfect person to help her. Her cousin, Emily, works with the Miss America Organization, a group that holds pageants for young women and awards scholarships.

"I wanted to merge those two ideas because I needed an outside expert to help me through the project, so I invited my cousin Emily," Steward continued. "She helped me create this."

The idea for an adaptive pageant is not unheard of, with the Miss Amazing Pageant operating nationwide. However, Steward was aiming for something smaller that would be more accessible for her local community. So Emily and Grace got to work, hosting their inaugural Miss Inspiration pageant in January 2024.

It is not easy to host an event like this, with lots of planning and advance preparation necessary to make things run smoothly. The date for the pageant is set roughly six months in advance to allow time for people to clear their calendars. A Google Form is sent out to allow interested participants to sign up. "It's 13–25; any girls in that age range are able to come and try out," said Steward. "No matter their ability … we are very accommodating with all of that."

From there, they send out notes and emails to participants, letting them know what they will need on the day of the pageant. Emily and Grace also spend time reaching out to sponsors to see if they can donate money to help prepare for the event. Finally, the day of the pageant arrives. "It's kind of a full-day process," said Steward. "The girls get there around noon and the show happens around six, so it's an all-day run-through of rehearsals."

"We had a lot of turnout. We had about eight girls and crowned Katelyn McKivergan as Miss Inspiration. We were able to give away some scholarship money, which we didn't originally think we could do, but we ended up giving away a couple thousand dollars to some of the winners. Then we decided to register as an LLC nonprofit, and here we are, we just finished year three in November."

When asked how she found her way to Clark, Steward replied, "I knew that I wanted to play lacrosse in college … my older brother had looked at Clark and really liked it … I reached out to Coach Ashley (Chagnon) … toured the school, loved it, really enjoyed DIII, and they had what I wanted. I was like, 'Yeah, this is the school for me.'"

Reflecting on Miss Inspiration, Grace remains optimistic about the future.

"I want to see if we can really grow this and try to help other states in New England. I really see something in this, and I want to keep it going for as long as I can."

For more information you can check out Miss Inspiration on Facebook and Instagram.