Miss High Beauty Contest

Another busy week at school and something new, the Miss High Beauty Contest. I am not a huge fan of beauty contests, but I like to support the learners and I was enlisted as a ‘technology’ backup. Our IT lead, the woman who was so helpful with getting me my own classroom and other teaching support, asked if I would serve in her absence. She prepared a complicated excel workbook with linked sheets and formulas to calculate all the judges’ scores for multiple events. In the past someone may have accidentally deleted a link or did the data entry in the wrong place, so they always have a ‘technology’ person on hand in case something goes wrong. I was on call during the show, but I was not needed. I couldn’t decide if I was relieved or disappointed because I knew I was quite capable of figuring out whatever went wrong.

This beauty contest is different because it includes boys and girls. A boy and a girl are paired together for much of the show with somewhat coordinating outfits or they had planned little gestures or routines as they modeled their clothes. However, the scoring is completely individual, and the final Miss High and Mr. High were not a ‘couple’ at all. The show also leaned toward the girls since they had more segments including an interview segment which the boys did not have.

The parts I liked most were some of the girls made creative outfits from recycled materials such as rolled newspapers, garbage bags, and paper fans. Also, some of the outfits were very casual and they were barefoot.

There was no talent segment. There was some singing by various learners as they transitioned from one segment to another, but these were not performed by contestants. All in all, it was entertaining, but it still makes me uncomfortable to put such an emphasis on looks.

All for now with all my love