WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI — Ann Arbor area youngster Emmalee Stroud got “excited” when she found out she would cheer on team Michigan at the country’s biggest beauty pageant.
The 6-year-old Whitmore Lake Elementary kindergartner was selected as a Miss America Little Sister to root for Miss Michigan and Piston’s staffer Jenae Lodewyk and Isabella Musk, Miss Michigan’s Teen.
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Emmalee found out she was selected while attending the Miss Michigan competition. She had been named a “Michigan Sweetheart” by the scholarship program last summer, which made her eligible.
In late December, the family headed down to Florida to ring in the new year and join festivities leading up to the crowning of Miss America Sunday, Jan. 5, at the Walt Disney Theater. Miss Alabama Abbie Stockard won the title, and Miss Arkansas’ Teen Peyton Bolling is the new Miss America’s Teen.
Emmalee was mostly excited about watching contestants “do their talents,” especially singers, she said.
“For fun, she likes to sing and dance,” her mom Katrina Suarez said, adding she likes making TikTok videos and performing, along with waterparks and hanging with her best friends.
When she grows up, she wants to be “a mermaid,” so she can look at sea creatures.
Emmalee was excited to walk “the pink carpet” at a tea party event, she said. “I’m wearing pink!”
“Like a superstar, like a Barbie,” her mom added.
Whitmore Lake Elementary kindergartner Emmalee Stroud, 6, poses with Isabella Musk, 2024 Miss Michigan’s Teen, in Orlando, Florida.Provided by Katrina Suarez
At Saturday’s Miss Michigan’s Teen competition, Emmalee and other Miss America Little Sisters were honored on stage. She received a sash.
They also got to hang out in Disney World with their coaching team from Madison Curtis Coaching and “Little Sisters” from other states who are part of the program.
Emmalee participates in about five-to-seven preliminaries in Michigan throughout the year and has won some titles and awards, including a $1,000 scholarship and trip to New York, where she got to attend the hit musical “Wicked” on Broadway.
She was discovered by representatives of Michigan Cinderella, a scholarship pageant program, at a dance class when she was 4 years old.
“She tried it, and she fell in love,” Suarez said.
“We’ll take it as far as she wants to. She can take it all the way up to the top, if she wants.”
Participating in pageants isn’t just about glitz and glamour.
Her daughter has gained confidence and mentorship, along with friends, Suarez said.
“There’s been a time or two she’s been nervous about going up on stage,” especially for the interview portion of pageants, but older girls talked to her about getting over fears and she got up there, she said. “It’s been a complete 180.”
“She’s learned how to be a role model to some of the younger girls and give them the same confidence boost,” she said.
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