Bettendorf beauty to compete in Miss America
One month from Thursday (on Jan. 14, 2024), Bettendorf native Alysa Goethe will find out if she’s the first Miss Iowa to become Miss America, in the 102-year history of the organization.
Goethe, a 24-year-old Bettendorf High and Drake University alum, was crowned Miss Iowa 2023 this past June at the Adler Theatre in Davenport. For that crown (after her fourth attempt in the state competition), Alysa earned scholarships totaling $11,950. To win Miss Iowa among 18 contestants in her hometown — literally her crowning moment — was surreal.
“I had so much support, probably upwards of 30 people who came to support me,” Goethe said Wednesday in an interview with Our Quad Cities News. “It was just a wall of sound when my name was called.”
“It has been a dream come true and a whirlwind,” she said of getting a chance to become Miss America. “I’ve been dreaming of this for 14 years — I started competing when I was 10 years old. So to finally achieve this dream has been so monumental and life-changing.”
Goethe has traveled 29,000 miles as Miss Iowa, appearing in 52 of the state’s 99 counties so far.
“It’s been so rewarding and amazing; I earned about $12,000 in scholarships just by winning the title of Miss Iowa,” she said. “You can imagine what I’ve accumulated over 14 years, it’s just been so life-changing. I’m so grateful for this organization, for giving me that sense of self I really needed when I was diagnosed with diabetes and going throughout school having that sense of empowerment has been so incredibly rewarding.”
Goethe got started at 10 after seeing her cousin compete, enamored with the talent portion, and she always loved to sing. Her mom initially said no, but Alysa gradually wore her down and she’s been hooked ever since.
The new ambassador selected for Miss America (Jan. 14, 2024 in Orlando, Fla.) wins the
opportunity to travel America as the brand ambassador and will be awarded $60,000 in tuition scholarship, an increase from previous years.
Miss America’s Teen 2024 will also be awarded her choice of either $60,000 in tuition scholarship to an accredited school of her choosing, or a four-year scholarship at the University of Alabama.
Each year, Miss America — the iconic brand and competition event founded in 1921 — awards more than $5 million in tuition scholarships to young women nationwide and millions more
in-kind through local/state and national events.
The 2024 Miss America & Miss America’s Teen competitions take place in the state-of-the-art Broadway theater in Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. All shows will be held from Jan. 8th – Jan. 14th.
State delegates across America and the District of Columbia will converge on Orlando for the ultimate in competitions. Following a personal interview, and three action-packed preliminary nights showcasing talent, fitness, and evening wear, two young women will be crowned during the final shows Saturday, Jan. 13, and Sunday, Jan. 14.
The 51 contestants will take part in events throughout the week, to promote their service initiative. The women also will appear at an American Heart Association “Go Red” Gala.
“Being crowned Miss America 2023 is impossible to put into words – it is a dream come true and has literally changed my life in an instant,” Grace Stanke of Wisconsin, Miss America 2023, said on the competition website. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to compete alongside so many inspiring, brilliant, talented women.”
Stanke, who earned a cumulative total $68,900 in scholarship assistance through her state and Miss America competitions, has used her national platform to advocate for Clean Energy, Cleaner Future, and was declared “the Face of Nuclear Energy” by the Wall Street Journal.
Life-changing experience
“I’ve always said the outlet of service through this organization saved my life,” Goethe said Wednesday. “When I was diagnosed with diabetes, having that service element is truly what helped me work through my grief, and made me realize it’s so much bigger than myself — I can help other people dealing with the same thing.”
“It’s helped me expand my reach with the diabetes work I’ve been doing; it’s given me that platform to speak out on it and impact so many people,” Goethe said. “The response from the diabetes community has been so amazing, I’m so grateful for it.”
She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 11 and it totally changed her life.
“I unfortunately faced bullying and discrimination,” she said. “I was the only person out of a graduating class of 400 people to be diabetic, and on top of an already difficult diagnosis, it made it that much harder.”
Goethe has worked to help people, so they don’t feel what she felt growing up.
“For the past 12 and a half years, I’ve been working tirelessly, educating others about the harmful misconceptions and stigmas that face the diabetes community, so that together we can advocate for a cure and better lives for those living with diabetes.”
“A lot of people attribute diabetes to being our own fault,” she said. “I had people even in middle school, who thought I had too much sugar as a kid. Some would joke that I was contagious, just to be rude.”
“Really, there was nothing I could have done, there was nothing I did do,” Goethe said, noting her father has had the disease for 42 years. Two weeks after she won Miss Iowa, her 27-year-old brother was also diagnosed with it.
State proclamation on diabetes
In November, she wrote a state proclamation (signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds) recognizing November as Diabetes Awareness Month in Iowa. Her Miss Iowa social impact initiative is “Not Your Type: Advocating for Type 1 Diabetes.”
“Authoring this proclamation has been a goal of mine since 2020 upon my first visit to the state capitol advocating for diabetes efforts,” Goethe posted on Facebook. “Over the last three years, I’ve talked myself out of it, thinking I didn’t have the necessary political background or wasn’t intelligent enough to bring this forward.
“Our state has long overlooked the diabetes epidemic in Iowa and across the nation. Representation, discourse, and legislation has been severely lacking. Once I was crowned Miss Iowa and saw the profound impact I was bringing to the diabetes community, especially in our state, I knew I needed to push away the imposter syndrome and begin this process.
“It’s emotional to see years of unrelenting dedication pay off,” she added. “In the place where I have been mistreated and brushed aside, we now recognize the importance of this month and of Iowans living with diabetes. Knowing that my legacy will live on for Iowa and the diabetes community long after my reign leaves me at a loss for words.”
In a 2022 essay (when Goethe served as Miss Greater Des Moines, before becoming Miss Polk County 2023), she wrote that many people don’t realize one of the Miss Iowa Scholarship Program’s central tenets is service.
“Every candidate and titleholder, even at the local level, is encouraged to engage in community service, whether it be for their personal cause that they support (called their Social Impact Initiative) or giving back in other ways,” Goethe wrote. “I saw the crown as a springboard; a way to extend my voice and the work I was already doing on an elevated platform to reach even more people across the area in a more meaningful way.”
As a diabetic, daily insulin injections and careful monitoring of blood glucose levels “wore me down but learning that there are more than 1.6 million Americans undergoing my same struggles while hoping for a cure, I knew that I was going to do everything I could to see an end to this disease,” she said.
“Since my diagnosis, I’ve been fighting for affordable insulin prices, raising funds towards a cure and educating others to dispel the myths surrounding diabetes.”
She has spoken to hundreds of students and teachers about T1D, partnered with the Nebraska-Iowa chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and created events to raise funds for the cause.
4 MORE
Since May 2022, Goethe also has hosted a podcast (called “Not Your Type”) on diabetes-related topics. She has featured an interview with Miss America 1999, Nicole Johnson, on the podcast, as the only diabetic to win Miss America. Goethe also plans to start a Miss America podcast.
Q-C connections to Miss America
Alysa is the fourth Quad Cities woman to compete for Miss America since 2018.
Mikhayla Hughes-Shaw, Miss Iowa 2018 (and a Rock Island native), was a former Living Local host (who now is a host for a Cincinnati ABC affiliate) and Goethe previously appeared on the show in 2021.
“She’s also been influential in my journey,” she said. “As Miss Iowa, she was an incredible representative, and I hope I leave her legacy lasting a little longer with my own.”
In December 2019, two Q-C women competed in Miss America at the same time — Emily Tinsman, a 2019 Drake University grad, and East Moline native Ariel Beverly, a 2017 Illinois State alum. They both had raising money and awareness for arts education as their platform, and they both sang in the talent competition.
Tinsman (also a Des Moines public school music teacher like Goethe) has been a strong mentor to Goethe over the years, serving as her local director when Alysa won Miss Polk County in 2023.
“It was really cool to not only have that Quad Cities connection, but to have that music educator connection, have someone who was Miss Iowa, live out that role and help prepare me as I now live out that same role,” Goethe said.
One of her scholarships was named for Emily, recognizing her work in music education.
Goethe graduated from Drake summa cum laude in 2022 with a BA in music education. Alysa worked as the head vocal music teacher at Hiatt Middle School in Des Moines before winning the title of Miss Iowa.
2020 was not the first year Miss America was not held (due to COVID); it also was scrapped from 1928 to 1932, during the Great Depression. While no Miss Iowa has ever won the crown, a Miss Illinois has triumphed five times – in 1927, 1969, 1991, 1998 and 2003. The last Illinois Miss America – Erika Harold — unsuccessfully ran in 2018 as a Republican to become Illinois Attorney General.
In 2019, for the first time, the state pageants and Miss America didn’t include a swimsuit competition. That part had previously contributed 10 percent of the total points.
The categories for Miss America are the same as Miss Iowa — private interview, health and fitness, evening gown, on-stage interview, and talent/HERstory.
Goethe said she’s glad not to have the swimsuit portion of the competition, which makes her feel more empowered.
“The health and fitness portion of one of my favorites; I didn’t expect to have so much fun,” she said. “I get to show that healthy might not look one type of way, but I’m healthy in my own way.”
“It’s not about who’s the thinnest or the most muscular person on stage,” Goethe said. “It’s really about how you embody health, wellness and confidence.”
She didn’t want to reveal the song she’s doing, but it is one she’s done before.
“I’m really excited to bring musical theater to the stage — that’s been a love of mine since I could sing, since I could talk, and it’s so exciting to get to live out that dream of performing my talent on the Miss America stage,” she said.
Saturday send-off in Bettendorf
Goethe will host a celebration send-off at her alma mater, Bettendorf High’s Performing Arts Center, on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 3 p.m., with Miss Iowa Teen, Juliana Clark of Clinton. A 17-year-old Clinton High School student, Juliana won the title of Miss Iowa’s Teen 2023 the same night in June at the Adler, and previously held the local title of Miss Clinton County’s Teen.
Her community service initiative is Pack the Pantries: Fighting Food Insecurity. As part of her initiative, Juliana has raised over $10,000 in support of Clinton County’s food pantries.
On Saturday in Bettendorf, you’ll see an exclusive sneak peek at their nationals wardrobe, talents, and prepare them for the interview/on stage question portion of competition. Both Juliana and Alysa will sing.
“It’s basically all things Miss America for those who can’t travel down to Orlando,” Alysa said. “It’s sounds so cheesy, but we have the sisterhood and it’s really true. Juliana’s like a little sister that I never got. People already think we’re sisters because we both have blonde hair and we both wore a white dress when we were crowned.”
“I thought it was good to include her so we can show how strong Iowa is, not just as a Teen or a Miss, but together,” she said. Tickets for Saturday are $10. You can purchase at the door or via Venmo: @missiowa2023.
Goethe said her Miss Iowa winnings help her pay off her Drake student loans. If she wins Miss America, those funds will go towards a master’s degree in education. She plans to become a school counselor or a music therapist.
“There’s already been so many doors that have opened because of this experience, which is amazing,” she said. “So many opportunities I never guessed I would have, and I can only hope and imagine that would continue to build in my year as Miss Iowa.”
The skills she’s learned are very transferable as an advocate for diabetes awareness and education.
“I’ve spoken to state and federal legislators across the country. I have a podcast that reaches multiple countries,” Goethe said.
Being in Miss Iowa has helped her command a classroom by improving her public speaking skills, as well as her job prospects.
When she worked in Des Moines public schools (the 2022-23 school year), Goethe taught at a Title I school and many students (from low-income families) had experienced trauma.
“I’d love to work with them more one on one; that’s where I feel I could connect, and getting to do that as a school counselor or music therapist, I think would be really rewarding and impactful,” she said Wednesday. “My love is really helping people and if I can do that one on one, I really feel I can help make change in their lives.”
Her whole family and extended family plan to come watch the Miss America activities in Orlando — including aunts, cousins and friends.
“It’s really amazing to see how many people are coming and I’m just floored they want to travel all the way to Orlando to see little ol’ me,” Goethe said.
The Miss America finals will be streamed (yet to be determined), and unlike last year, there will be no paywall to watch, she said. On Dec. 16, 2022, the last Miss America was crowned at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and live streamed exclusively on www.PageantsLive.com. In December 2021, the competition was the first time since 1954 to not air on broadcast TV (it was streamed on Peacock).
For more information, visit the Miss America website HERE.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sMHRqqyanJOewaqx0meaqKVfo7K4v46lppyZnGK7psPSaJmerKSau6W70Z9km52RqsG6edOoZJynnaWytbGMoqVmpZmowG6tzJ6popuRZA%3D%3D