MISS HEARTLAND
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Sophie Keeler
Class of 2019 Greater Minnesota is the final competition for the season and awards Granite City, Great Lakes and Heartland titles.
Director: Jodi Swaja Next Competition Date: April 5, 2019 Talent: Jazz Dance Social Impact: The Right Type to Save a Life: Building Blood Donation Awareness |
Sophie Keeler is currently a student at the University of Alabama pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She is a recipient of UA's Presidential Scholarship, a member of the Honors College, and received the President's List designation this past semester. During her time at the University of Alabama, Sophie is involved with UA's Dance Marathon as a member of the Miracle Committee, RISE Preschool, UA Red Cross Club, and is a member of Alpha Gamma Delta. After graduation, she hopes to ultimately pursue a doctoral degree in Nurse Anesthesia and work as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.
After 15 years of dance training, Sophie loves continuing her passion through the talent portion of the Miss America competition format. At the culmination of her official dance career, Sophie had been a senior captain of the Chaska Dance Team, placed in the top three at both MSHSL Sections & State Dance Team competitions, was a member of the Minnesota All-State Dance Team, received a "Most Outstanding Dancer" award at Just For Kix Camp, and was the female Chaska High School Academics, Arts, & Athletics (Triple “A”) award recipient. In addition to dancing with her high school dance team and my local dance studio, Sophie also performed in featured dance and singing roles in Chaska High School's production of Singin' In the Rain, and received an evaluator Shout Out from Minnesota Spotlight Theater Awards for her performance as the "Green Lady." This June will be her first time competing in the Miss Minnesota state competition. She is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such an incredible sisterhood between women and looks forward to deepening friendships with the inspiring women in the Miss Minnesota class of 2019. Sophie is passionate about volunteerism and is particularly driven to encourage lifelong blood donors through her campaign "The Right Type to Save a Life" -- because EVERYONE is the right type to save a life! Sophie hopes to inspire young women everywhere to redefine lingering stereotypes about women, such as achieving success in academic areas while also having pride in how they look & present themselves. She is passionate about the Miss America organization and what it stands for: Preparing great women for the world, and preparing the world for great women. Social Impact: In the time it takes you to read this sentence, a Minnesota patient will require blood for critical medical treatment. Every two seconds, a blood donation is needed to treat accident victims, cancer patients, surgery patients, and many others receiving health care. Because blood cannot be manufactured, donations are essential to save the lives of those who need blood during their medical care. Due to a lack of donors, our nation’s blood supply is critically low, and hundreds of lives are at risk. As an avid blood donor, I am driven to expand public awareness of blood donation in order to increase the number of donors in Minnesota. My social impact initiative has two major components to expand this awareness: Creating consciousness of the year-round need for blood donations, as well as communicating the ease of donating. It is my goal to encourage lifesaving blood donations through partnerships with schools, visiting local hospitals, as well as assisting with and organizing blood drives. Not only will this increase in blood donation awareness affect countless lives across Minnesota, but the kids receiving health care in Children’s Miracle Network hospitals will also be able to rest at ease knowing they do not have to worry about a lack of blood supply during their treatment. Through my participation in the Miss America Organization, I hope to become personally responsible for the increase of blood donors in our region, in turn giving life to our beautiful state. Working to promote Blood Donation & Children’s Miracle Network together is an absolute privilege! |
