ZCHS Senior Alexis Hipsky Wins Miss Fall Festival
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December 12, 2022, will mark the historic 100-year anniversary of the Miss America pageant. Before the 51 national finalists gather in the award-winning, 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, they will first have to triumph at preliminary local and state events.
Alexis Hipsky, an 18-year-old senior at Zionsville Community High School, completed the first leg of her journey towards Miss America by placing first at her local Miss Fall Festival Scholarship Program. The Miss Fall Festival winner receives scholarship funds along with other prizes from local sponsors, but for these ambitious young women, there is a higher prize. With each victory, each competitor increases her platform for advocating for the social issues most pressing to them.
“The Miss America circuit is no longer a beauty pageant,” says Nichole Smith, director of the 2022 Miss Fall Festival. “This is a competition for our next leaders, our next CEOs, to spread their messages. That’s the mission of Miss America, to prepare great women for the world and prepare the world for great women.”
Hipsky is excited to have a platform through which she can champion for a cause of great importance to her – the prevalence of eating disorders and body-image struggles in young men and women. She aspired to work closely with Zionsville community partner, The Cabin Counseling and Resource Center. Hipsky, who attended sessions at The Cabin for nutritional therapy, aims to coordinate social media efforts to promote the facility’s resources to the community.
“As a young woman who has struggled with an eating disorder and body image for nine years, I know what it feels like to be unseen and unheard with no resources,” she says. “I want to be an advocate for young women everywhere to help them feel seen and heard, and to help connect them to resources for recovery.”
The next title Hipsky will compete for is Miss Indiana, with events occurring from June 13 through 18 at Zionsville Performing Arts Center. The week of the competition will include a variety of community events including a Miss Indiana parade and the Miss Indiana Princess Camp, a program for girls ages 5 to 13 to improve their skills, build their confidence, and receive mentorship from women competing for the Miss Indiana and Miss Indiana Outstanding Teen titles.
“Going into the local circuit, I was proud of myself for trying because the first time I competed, I was so hard on myself,” Hipsky says. “I worked really hard and had a goal of placing in the top three for Miss Fall Festival. Winning made me feel like the judges believe in my ability to change our community and our state, possibly even the nation, regarding eating disorders and body image. I have my eyes on the prize.” 
Young women interested in becoming candidates, or people interested in Miss Indiana events, can visit missindiana.org for more information.
