MARTINSBURG — After winning the title of Miss Northeastern 2025 at the beginning of the year, Kaitlyn Dice began thinking more about how she could use her platform for good.
That led her to establishing her own nonprofit organization, Katie’s Kits. The nonprofit’s purpose is to provide assistance to art and music teachers and to encourage an interest in the arts in children by giving them art materials.
“I have always had a home within the arts,” Dice said, mentioning she especially enjoys performing in musical theater productions. “My teachers consistently worked hard to ensure we had the opportunities available for success — oftentimes, using their personal monies to support the programs we love.”
After earning that her teachers were paying out of their own pockets when school funding did not cover all of the items they needed, Dice was inspired to search for a way to help.
“Katie’s Kits is here to take the financial burden off of the teachers and make art enjoyable again. Our children need to have the arts present within their lives,” Dice said, mentioning she views this as a way to repay the generosity her own teachers showed to her. “With Katie’s Kits, I can give back to the communities that provided for me.”
Becoming involved with the arts not only helped Dice become a more well-rounded individual, but it also inadvertently led her to begin competing with the Miss America organization.
“I did a lot of performing in high school. In my senior year, I got to be Cinderella in our show, ‘Cinderella.’ The Miss Hampshire County Fair pageant organizers came to the show and saw my talent — I’m a singer — during the show,” Dice said, mentioning they recruited her to compete in their pageant, which she won in 2023.
Dice said that same year, she made it into the top 10 finalists at the Miss West Virginia competition. She will be returning to compete for the title of Miss West Virginia for the second time in June.
“This Miss America organization has been a huge help in my life. It has given me opportunities that I never dreamed of having,” Dice said.
According to Dice, the scholarship funding she received from her competitions has given her a free ride at Potomac State College, from which she will be graduating with an associate degree in May. That will be a huge accomplishment for herself and her family, as she said her father never attended college himself.
After graduating with her associate degree, Dice hopes to earn a bachelor’s degree in music therapy at West Virginia University or Shenandoah University. She plans to, in the midst of those studies, continue providing art and music kits for teachers and smaller kits of coloring books, crayons and kazoos to children throughout the state.
“Everybody deserves the opportunity to participate in the arts,” Dice said. “I want to impact every county in the state. Even if they are three hours away from me, seeing the students’ faces light up when they realize the kits are theirs to keep makes it all worth it to me.”
This is especially true to her, as she has personal experience of the far-reaching benefits of participating in the arts.
“By handing out kits, I’m not only helping out arts education, but I’m also slowly healing everybody. I’m healing those who can’t afford stuff. I’m healing those who don’t feel they can participate in the arts. I’m healing those — especially in the hospital settings — who are going through a rough time,” Dice said. “In today’s society, that’s what we really need — to be making sure we’re making everybody’s world a little brighter, one kid at a time.”
To learn more or make a donation to Katie’s Kits, contact Dice at katiesartkits@gmail.com.
