Miss America made a special appearance at the Wisconsin 4-H Summer Academy held on the UW-Madison campus. Grace Stanke, former Miss Wisconsin from Wausau, is currently serving in the role of Miss America.
Stanke has been in the role of Miss America since January. It is a full time job that has her traveling all across the country speaking to different groups like 4-H. Stanke says, “This is such a huge part of Wisconsin culture. Growing up, so many people talked about how they were involved in 4-H. I, unfortunately, never was. I’m kind of wishing I had though – there is a really awesome opportunity here with 4-H.”
Stanke is only the 3rd woman from Wisconsin to be crowned Miss America. She is also unique in that she is the first nuclear engineer to compete in Miss America. Stanke will be finishing her degree in nuclear engineering from UW-Madison after she completes her year as Miss America.
When asked about the message she wanted to share with 4-H youth, Stanke said, “Nuclear is safe, it’s effective, it’s reliable. It’s got small land usage so we can continue promoting agriculture, continue using Wisconsin land for farmland and that’s something that’s going to become increasingly important as our farmland grows.”
She will serve as Miss America for another 6 months before hanging up her crown.
Leave a Reply