Sarah Jensen crowned Miss Idaho

Miss Idaho 2022, Sarah Jensen is looking forward to the next year of serving the state and representing Idaho at Miss America this December. 
 One of Jensen’s first appearances as Miss Idaho was the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Parade, and Jensen felt so grateful to be able to have the experience of appearing in her hometown so shortly after being crowned.  Jensen shared that the dream of becoming Miss Idaho started right here in Weiser, and she feels in her heart she never would have had this opportunity without this community.
Jensen’s dream began while watching the local young women compete right here in Weiser during the Miss Western Idaho pageant. Jensen always felt in awe of the  competitors and crown holders. The women who won Miss Western Idaho, were always poised, talented, and kind. They got to not only be honored on that stage, but then they also got to appear at all the important community events. So she set a goal at a very young age to be Miss Western Idaho. 
 A few years later, Jensen met her first Miss Idaho, Whitney Wood, when Jensen’s older sister Paige competed in Miss Western Idaho. That is when she remembers first realizing that there was more to Miss Western Idaho, and after meeting Whitney Wood, she knew she wanted to be just like her someday and she set a goal to be Miss Idaho. 
 Jensen competed for Miss Idaho five times: 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2022. She first began competing at a very young age, and although she learned something from each experience, she realized that the timing wasn’t right. She took a three year break from the organization. 
 During those three years, Jensen earned her degree and also spent some time working with another pageant company – American Pageants. Through that organization, Jensen earned not only a state title, but earned the national title Miss of America. The pageant had completely different requirements, no talent competition, and the focus was on community service and academics. Still, Jensen feels that that experience helped her prepare for her next journey in the Miss America organization. 
 When Jensen returned to compete in Miss Idaho in 2021, she felt ready. She finished in the top five that year, and since she would be 25, she walked away from Miss Idaho in 2021 believing that that dream was over. Then this spring, the Miss America organization  increased the age to 26, so Jensen decided it was time to try one last time. The timing could not have been better. 
 Since Jensen has been dreaming of Miss Idaho for a long time, now that she holds the title, she has big goals for the next year. She wants to help recruit at least 20 new candidates for the Miss Idaho competition, gain at least 10 new sponsors for the Miss Idaho organization and represent Miss Idaho to the best of her ability at Miss America in December. 
 Part of representing herself as Miss Idaho will also include promoting her Social Impact Initiative: Why Math Matters. As a math teacher, Jensen has seen students struggle with math and realized that at least some of that struggle was because students consistently have no value in what they are learning. So Jensen started a Youtube channel and a website with the goal of helping students see how they can use math in future careers. She has interviewed professionals in several different fields and Jensen has already seen the impact these interviews are having with students’ value of math education. As part of her social impact initiative Jensen hopes to visit 30 schools around the state.
 The Miss Idaho organization lost several sponsors throughout the COVID pandemic, so she will need to cover several expenses including travel. She will also be selling ads for the Miss America program and will have a special section for ads from her hometown, and Jensen will  be holding a silent auction in November as part of her send off celebration. 
 Jensen is also working to bring back the very competition that spurred her dream: the Miss Western Idaho pageant. Sarah and her mother, Margaret, and sister, Paige, are in the process of organizing a board and will also be looking for interested sponsors and candidates for the next Miss Western Idaho. 
 Jensen shared that the flood of support since she was crowned, has been overwhelming in the best way, and much of that support has been from the community. 
 “I honestly don’t believe I would be Miss Idaho without this community. It has been a true team effort. From the help with buying ads for the Miss Idaho program, to those that helped with mock interviews, I feel like the whole community has been cheering me on, and I could not be more grateful,” Jensen said. 

 

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