McKensie Lane Garber (born April 25, 1994) is an American

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

titleholder from Hale, Missouri, who was named Miss Missouri's Outstanding Teen 2011 and crowned

Miss Missouri Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as " Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, i ...

2015. She competed for the

Miss America 2016 Miss America 2016, the 89th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 13, 2015. It was broadcast on ABC and streamed to mobile devices and Xbox 360 consoles via the WatchABC app. Tick ...

title in September 2015.

Pageant career

Early pageants

Garber began competing in pageants in 2004, following the encouragement of her dance teacher. In 2007, Garber entered the National American Miss pageant system's Miss Missouri Pre-Teen competition. She was chosen as third runner-up to queen Courtney Landes and named Miss Congeniality and Art Contest Winner. Garber entered the Miss America system in 2008, first winning the title of Miss Branson's Outstanding Teen. She represented the title of Miss Audrain's Outstanding Teen her second year of competition and placed Third Runner-Up at the state pageant. Her third year, she competed at the state pageant as Miss Gateway St. Louis Outstanding Teen and placed First Runner-Up. In November 2010, she won the title Miss Lake of the Ozarks Outstanding Teen 2011. In June 2011, Garber entered the Miss Missouri's Outstanding Teen 2011 pageant at the

Missouri Military Academy The Missouri Military Academy (MMA) is a private preparatory school established on November 22, 1889, in Mexico, Missouri. The academy is a selective, all male, boarding school, grades 7 to 12. As a U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Trainin ...

Mexico, Missouri , image_skyline = Audrain County Missouri Courthouse.JPG , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = The Audrain County Courthouse in downtown Mexico. , image_flag = , image_seal = ...

, as a qualifier for the state title. Garber's competition talent was a theatrical dance performance to " I Can Hear the Bells" from the musical ''

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''. Her platform was "Promoting Good Character Among Americans". Garber won the competition on Saturday, June 11, 2011, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss Missouri's Outstanding Teen titleholder Alexandria Black. Garber was Missouri's representative at the

Miss America's Outstanding Teen Miss America's Outstanding Teen is an American scholarship pageant. It is the sister program to the Miss America Organization, and it aims to "promote scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement for ...

2012 pageant in Orlando, Florida, in August 2011. She was not a Top 10 Finalist for the national crown but earned a $500 scholarship as the Non-Finalist Evening Wear Award winner. On August 9, 2013, Garber entered the 2013 Missouri State Fair Queen Pageant as the representative of the Hale

Future Farmers of America National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at Vi ...

Alumni. She placed First Runner-Up to winner Ashley Bauer for that state title.

Miss Missouri 2015

Garber took a two-year break from the

pageants, choosing to focus on her college education. She completed her degree at Oral Roberts University with honors in three years. On September 27, 2014, Garber returned to pageant competition and was crowned Miss Gateway St. Louis 2015. In June 2015, she entered the

2015 pageant at the

Mexico, Missouri , image_skyline = Audrain County Missouri Courthouse.JPG , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = The Audrain County Courthouse in downtown Mexico. , image_flag = , image_seal = ...

, as one of 25 qualifiers for the state title. Garber's competition talent was a jazz

en pointe Pointe technique ( ) is the part of classical ballet technique that concerns ''pointe work'', in which a ballet dancer supports all body weight on the tips of fully extended feet within pointe shoes. A dancer is said to be ''en pointe'' () wh ...

performance to

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's " P.Y.T.". Her platform is "CharacterPlus: Inspiring Lives of Integrity Through Education". During the interview portion, Garber was asked "When must America go to war?" and she answered, "I think war is a last resort for America. I love that America is so passionate about creating harmony across the entire world; but, war is one of the most devastating, if not the most devastating, thing known to humanity. It should be a last resort after we use diplomacy and communication with other countries." She won the competition on Saturday, June 13, 2015, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss Missouri titleholder

Jessica Hartman Jessica may refer to: Given name * Jessica (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters with this name * Jessica Folcker, a Swedish singer known by the mononym Jessica * Jessica Jung, a Korean-American singer known by the m ...

. She earned more than $11,000 in scholarship money and other prizes from the state pageant. Garber is the first person to be crowned both Miss Missouri's Outstanding Teen and

. As Miss Missouri, Garber's activities include public appearances across the state of Missouri.

Vying for Miss America 2016

She was Missouri's representative at the

pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in September 2015. In the televised finale on September 13, 2015, she placed outside the Top 15 semi-finalists and was eliminated from competition. She was awarded a $3,000 scholarship prize as her state's representative.

Early life and education

Garber is a native of Hale, Missouri, and a 2012 graduate of Hale High School. Her father is Ron Garber and her mother is Denise Garber. Garber is a May 2015 graduate Oral Roberts University in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, where she studied convergence journalism.

References

External links

Miss Missouri official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garber, McKenzie Living people 1994 births American beauty pageant winners Miss America 2016 delegates People from Carroll County, Missouri Oral Roberts University alumni