FSLM Student Profile

MEET KATIE McCLURE

By Reese Langdon

Their hair is sky high, their dresses shimmer and their makeup is powdered on with perfection. Most would assume the glimmering girls strutting across the pageant stage would be unwilling to get their hands a little dirty. However, this stereotype is wrong, especially in the case of the newly titled Miss Texarkana’s Teen, Katie McClure. 

Katie is an eighth-grader who runs cross country and track and plays basketball at DeKalb Middle School. She also competitively dances at Angela Davis School of Dance; barrel races during the summers; raises lambs, chickens and goats for livestock shows throughout Texas;  and, of course, competes in pageants. 

Katie’s passion for agricultural activities is not separate from her pageant life. “My platform is to encourage girls at a young age to become leaders in our communities through agriculture programs,” she said. “I want to show them that even girls who wear pretty dresses and crowns like to drive a tractor and muck out a horse stall.”

This cowgirl has always had country roots, as her father is a high school agriculture teacher and a rodeo clown, but her interest in pageants did not come until she hit the double-digits in age. 

“I first started competing in pageants when I moved to DeKalb in the fourth grade,” she recalled. “I moved from a really small 1A school in Miller Grove [southwest of Sulphur Springs] that didn’t offer many activities. When I moved to DeKalb, I wanted to try everything they offered, including signing up for their annual Miss DeKalb Pageant.” 

This one decision sparked an interest that led her to where she is today: inspiring so many young girls to be unapologetically who they truly are and take on leadership roles within the agriculture industry. 

Katie’s platform was inspired by her realization that the men-to-women ratio in the agriculture industry is very disproportionate. 

“Some of the strongest women I know are active in the agriculture community; however, they are few and far between,” she explained. Now, through the title she holds, she encourages girls and women to hop on the saddle, so to speak, in the hopes of one day seeing gender parity in the ag world.

Katie’s pageant career not only helps others, but it also helps her be the best version of herself. 

“My favorite thing about pageants is how they push me to be a better person,” Katie said. “Pageants give me the self-confidence to know that I can be me. I may not win every pageant; I may not be the most talented or the best speaker. But I know that if I did my best, then I can be proud of myself.”

Although the audience, judges and Instagram followers might not see it, competing pageants is a very difficult hobby to pursue and requires serious dedication. With the Miss Texas Teen pageant coming up in June, Katie knows that hours and hours of practice are in her future.

“I have to prepare a fitness routine, perfect my talent and work on walking in heels in a long dress,” she said. “The most challenging thing with the Miss Texas Teen pageant is doing my own hair and makeup. No one is allowed to help us backstage, so I have been practicing hair and makeup techniques as well.” 

Another difficult aspect of the pageant life is flawless execution of the interview portion. Katie has to answer questions without stuttering or using filler words.

“​​Although I love to meet new people, the interview portion is always a challenge,” Katie admitted. “I never really know what questions I will be asked, and I struggle with self-doubt, so I am always unsure if I answered the question correctly.”

That self-doubt sometimes has Katie wondering, ‘“How can I compete with that?’” when watching the other candidates, she said. She copes with these anxieties by trusting her hard work and making sure that the judges can see that she is confident and having fun. 

To anyone considering the pageant lifestyle, Katie would highly recommend it. 

“If someone were to tell me that they wanted to start doing pageants, I would tell them that it can be one of the most empowering experiences that they will ever have,” she said. “It takes a lot of courage to get on stage and be judged by others. If they let their personality shine through and be confident in who they are, they can never go wrong.”

Best of luck to DeKalb’s own at Miss Texas Teen USA 2023.