Check out the flyer!

Please check it out:

Download the flyer here

Miss Deaf Minnesota, Katy A. Kelley's last newsletter.

Hello!!! WOW! it is my last newsletter as Miss Deaf Minnesota! yup, I will be giving a crown to a new young lady this June during the MADC conference! I cannot believe that my one and half year as a Miss Deaf Minnesota will be over! I hope I will see you all there in St. Cloud! Meanwhile, please look for my shiny crown and say hi! Please come to the pageant during the conference to support the new miss deaf MN! I will love to chat with you all for last time! After I relinquish my crown, I will be busy with my graduate study out west! I will be studying in Rehabilitation Counseling Education for Deaf.  I am pretty excited about that experience! Since, it is my last newsletter, I would like to say my thanks and farewell to people who helped me through this experience!!! 

Good bye summer...

Hello fall and winter! One thing I hope for is a white thanksgiving with all of this global warming. I love snow! I hope you are all excited for Thanksgiving, please do take your time to think about what you are thankful for. I am thankful to have my family supporting me in my busy life. This is my last semester as an undergraduate student, I will be graduating from Metropolitan State University this December with a bachelors degree. I have been busy running around as Miss Deaf Minnesota, a college student and as a support specialist. My last appearance as Miss Deaf Minnesota was at the Twins baseball game to sign the national anthem with six young students from MSAD. We had the opportunity to be on the field so close to the players! ha ha We all had so much fun. It was a good experience showing our language in front of everybody. :) Before that, I went to the ASL Expo in September and that was a successful event! I met so many people and surely enjoyed my day. Recently, I visited Gallaudet University to see my friends and saw many state queens that I had met at the NAD Conference in New Orleans! I enjoyed catching up with them, we all missed each other since the summer. Look for me at Thompson Hall events. Wash your hands often so you don't get sick this fall and the important thing is to STAY warm! Have fun! Katy

What a lovely and festive fall!

At last, fall is here! We are very eager to get ready for our Miss Deaf Minnesota Pageant at the MADC Conference in June 2009. We are working to recruit new ambassadors to represent our state as Miss Deaf Minnesota. If you are interested in being part of the pageant, please contact our Contestant Coordinator, Misty Schomberg at mschomberg@gmail.com.

I would like to personally thank Vicki Johnson, Julianna Kinney and Shana Morgan for their wonderful work on the booth during the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf homecoming to help fund raise for MDMP. Also congratulations to MSAD Girls' volleyball for winning the championship. 

MDMP is working closely with MADC to get ready for the Miss Deaf Minnesota Pageant; we are looking forward to the event!

If you are interested in having our Miss Deaf Minnesota, Katy Kelley for appearances at events, please contact our Scheduling Agent, Toni Fairbanks at claytoni@tvutel.com. I would also like to congratulate Katy for graduating this December with a bachelors degree in human services.

Please keep an eye out for our events near you.

Andrew J. Oehrlein

State Director

Miss Deaf Minnesota Pageant

Back from New Orleans, Louisiana from NAD Conference

Wow- what a journey to New Orleans, Louisiana. I have to admit that this was my first time attending a NAD Conference and I was very pleased working with over 25 State Pageant Directors and 22 wonderful contestants. I also worked closely with our Miss Deaf Minnesota Katy and her chaperone Sarah Houge; I am very proud of Katy. She put in effort during the Miss Deaf America Pageant- she did not place in the final six but she will always be our winner for Minnesota!

Emory Dively, Cythnia Weitzel, Galinda Goss-Kuehn and I enjoyed sightseeing in famous New Orleans and wished we had more time in the city. New Orleans is full of history and delicious food. We had a full schedule with meetings and discussions relating to NAD and the pageant. We learned much from each other.

What a journey! I encourage you to attend the 50th Biennial NAD Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July 2010. MADC and MDMP have already expressed our interest in bidding for the 51st Biennial NAD Conference in 2012; the last time Minnesota hosted the conference was in 1899 and 1970. Let's bring our STRONG Deaf and Hard of hearing community together to welcome them to our state!

Andrew J. Oehrlein

State Director

Miss Deaf Minnesota Pageant 

Miss Deaf America Pageant

There are a total of 22 contestants participating in this year's MDA competition. Contestants are divided into three groups: Mu, Delta, and Alpha. The competitions determine which contestants will compete for three consecutive afternoons on stage in the following categories: Platform Presentation, Artistic Expression and Presence & Poise.

MU:
Miss Deaf Alabama, Robyn Parker
Miss Deaf Colorado, Kathy Ronci
Miss Deaf Maryland, Michelle Lapides
Miss Deaf Missouri, JoAnn Benfield
Miss Deaf North Carolina, Carole Edwards
Miss Deaf Oregon, Ashley Beghtel
Miss Deaf Wisconsin, Wendy Arendt

DELTA:
Miss Deaf Arkansas, Brittney Caldwell
Miss Deaf California, Amanda Folendorf
Miss Deaf District of Columbia, Shanna Grossinger
Miss Deaf Georgia, Meleah Miller
Miss Deaf Illinois, Sarah Miller
Miss Deaf Minnesota, Katy Kelley
Miss Deaf Nebraska, Kristina Lorenzo
Miss Deaf New York, Alexandria Pucciarelli

ALPHA:
Miss Deaf Florida, Kimberly Wright
Miss Deaf Iowa, Laura Stefl
Miss Deaf Kansas, Tanna Jo Kolb
Miss Deaf Michigan, Jillian Gruetzner
Miss Deaf New Jersey, Jessica Malone
Miss Deaf Texas, Katherine Murich
Miss Deaf Virginia, Christy Bowers



Six Semi-Finalists:
1. Miss Deaf New York, Alexandria Pucciarelli
2. Miss Deaf Missouri, JoAnn Benfield
3. Miss Deaf Nebraska, Kristina Lorenzo
4. Miss Deaf Maryland, Michelle Lapides
5. Miss Deaf Texas, Katherine Murich
6. Miss Deaf District of Columbia, Shanna Grossinger

Official Results:

Platform Presentation Winners:
Preliminary 1: Miss Deaf Texas, Katherine Murich
Preliminary 2: Miss Deaf Maryland, Michelle Lapides
Preliminary 3: Miss Deaf New York, Alexandria Pucciarelli


Artistic Expression Winners:
Preliminary 1: Miss Deaf Arkansas, Britteny Caldwell
Preliminary 2: Miss Deaf Michigian, Jillian Gruetzner
Preliminary 3: Miss Deaf Maryland, Michelle Lapides


Miss Congeniality Winner:
Miss Congeniality: Miss Deaf Wisconsin, Wendy Arendt



Second Runner-up: Miss Deaf Missouri, JoAnn Benfield

First Runner-up: Miss Deaf Texas, Katherine Murich

Miss Deaf America 2008-2010: Miss Deaf Maryland, Michelle Lapides

Greetings!!!

My name is Katy Kelley and I am honored to accept the position as Miss Deaf Minnesota 2008-2009. I am really excited to be an ambassador for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, students and adults in the state of Minnesota; I look forward to working with you all!


I am a Minnesota native and I do what Minnesotans do! I fish, I go boating and 4-wheeling; my big secret is that I am a # 1 fan of the Mall of America and love to shop there. I have wonderful parents Keith & Doreen and siblings Bryan & Sue, Tina & Benis and Kevin who are on my side and support me all the way. I also have 2 black lab dogs & 5 puppies that are a few weeks old! I love to interact and learn from people of different cultures and backgrounds.

I graduated from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf (MSAD) in 2004 and am now a student at Metropolitan State University in the individualized B.A. program in Family Mediation & Community Development. I just completed a season coaching the MSAD cheerleading squad and we won the spirit stick for most spirited team at a tournament! I am also involved with the Minnesota Association of Deaf Citizens (MADC) Youth committee.


This experience as Miss Deaf Minnesota will help me become more knowledgeable in my future goals and increase my work experience in a variety of environments. For example: I will gain skills to help children in different communities and countries and learn how to work with schools and youth organizations. I want to encourage youth from different groups and schools to work together and develop networking relationships.

This July, I will be going to the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Conference in New Orleans to participate in the Miss Deaf America Pageant (MDAP). This will be a wonderful and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, I look forward to meeting new people and attending the conference. I hope that I will learn so much from the other 27 Deaf Queens who will be attending, as well as the NAD conference. I will bring this knowledge and experience back to Minnesota and share with you all!


I would like to thank my chaperone Larisa Martin for her dedication when I participated in the Miss Deaf Minnesota Pageant last summer. Sarah Houge is my new chaperone and will be attending the MDAP retreat and NAD conference with me this summer. I want to thank Sarah for her enthusiasm, as well as Galinda K. Goss-Kuehn, my artistic expression coach, and everyone else who are helping me prepare for my trip to New Orleans! A big thanks to my wonderful friends and family for their support!

I am available to make appearances at your event, school or anything you would like. Please contact my scheduling agent, Toni Fairbanks at claytoni@tvutel.com. Hope to see you soon! We will also be having a Good Luck party before I leave for New Orleans on June 21, 2008 at Thompson Hall at 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Come and see me in action! ☺

Here's the information:

1) When is the event?
2) Where is the event?
3) What is the name of your event?
4) What is the purpose for your event?
5) What is the time frame?
6) What would you like Miss Deaf Minnesota to do?
7) The honorarium fee is $100/hour


Sincerely,


Katy Kelley
Miss Deaf Minnesota