Episode 100: Brighton High Grad Sparkles as Miss Utah, Sets Sights on Miss America Crown

The sparkling tiara of Miss America is within the reach of a Brighton High graduate who has dreamed of winning the title since she was a small girl watching the pageant on television.

 Paris Matthews, a 2016 BHS graduate and the current Miss Utah, is doing her final preparations before leaving for Florida to vie for scholarships and the crown. When she crosses the stage in a glittering gown, it will be the realization of a vision she’s had in her head since she practiced her “pageant walk” in her living room as a 4-year-old child.  

 “At 4 years old, I was mimicking (what I saw on) the TV,” she says, “and I grew up competitively dancing and I did Miss Drill Utah. I just really loved the experience, and I started to think when I turned 19, I wanted to do pageants.”

 The competition is Dec. 31-Jan. 5 in Orlando, and Matthews says she plans to take the lessons learned in CSD classrooms and while dancing with the BHS Accadians to the national contest. 

 Matthews credits Canyons teachers, coaches, and advisers with helping her develop the confidence she needed to pursue her dream of winning the state and, hopefully, the national title. She attended Ridgecrest Elementary and Butler Middle before becoming a Brighton High Bengal. Matthews also spent time as a substitute teacher for CSD. 

 “My fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Bunderson, is probably one of my biggest inspirations,” Matthews of her former Ridgecrest teacher, Pamela Bunderson, who has since retired. 

 “She really believed in me when I had little confidence in my academics and that is what really stuck with me for so long,” Matthews said. “Also being part of the drill team is what really, I think, cultivated in my dedication, my perseverance, my grit, my hard work and resilience.”

 Matthews also lauds the influence of her drill coach, Chelsea Divine, who now leads Hillcrest’s team, the current 4A state champions. Divine continues to work with Matthews, even choreographing her drill performance for the talent portion of Miss Utah.

 Episode Chapters

 

0:01 Miss Utah Paris Matthews

We introduce our guest show also shares how the last few months have felt as the reigning Miss Utah.

 

2:24 Miss America – A Professional Development Program

Matthews shares why she believes the Miss America Scholarship Program is a Professional Development Program — and how competing has helped her to grow as a person. 

 

3:44 Empowering Child Life Specialist and Author

Not only is she Miss Utah and, hopefully, soon to be Miss America, but Matthews is a Child Life Specialist at Primary Children’s Hospital. She also tells us about the book she wrote to help children feel safe while in the hospital.

 

7:33 The Lasting Impact of Growing in Canyons School District

From fourth-grade teachers to drill coaches, Matthews shares how her time as a student in Canyons District helped teach her life-long lessons and develop friendships that continue to this day. 

 

10:04 Overcoming Challenges to Achieve Dreams

It’s a lot of hard work competing for Miss Utah.  We learn that Matthews tore a muscle right before the talent portion of the state competition and how her fellow contestants were the ones to help her overcome the injury.

 

11:55 The Road to Miss America

Matthews now has her eyes set on the Miss America competition in just a few short weeks. Learn how she’s preparing for the pageant. 

 

13:16 Matthews’ Message to Canyons Students

From accepting failure to celebrating achievements, Matthews shares her message to Canyons students about following their dreams.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by
Canyons School District.
This is a show about what weteach, how we teach and why we
get up close and personal withsome of the people who make our
schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Miss America is an organization that works to
inspire women to achieve theirgoals and to do so with a little
bit of style.
Here at Canyons School District, we work to ensure every
student, graduates, college andcareer ready and reaches for
their goals as well.
Welcome to Connect Canyons.
I'm your host, Frances Cook,and today I'm joined by someone
who embodies both of thosemissions Canyons alumni and this

(00:41):
year's Miss Utah, ParisMatthews.
Paris, thank you so much forjoining us.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yes, thank you.
I'm so excited to be here.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
We're excited to have you.
I can imagine the last fewmonths have been just a daisy
dream of a whirlwind.
You were just crowned in June,so tell me what has it been like
?
Has it sunk in yet?

Speaker 3 (01:04):
It finally has sunk in, but it felt like Christmas
morning every morning for a fewmonths there, and it still does.
It's just as exciting, but nowit feels a little more real and
a little more settled.
But now my next dream is goingto Miss America and that's going
to be on New Year's.
So it's a whole new dream thatI'm just really excited to keep
pursuing.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
That's amazing, and you're already working for that.
I want to get more into that ina little bit.
Tell me this is somethingyou've been working towards
since you were probably, yayhigh.
I saw the clip of you watchingthe pageant on TV and just
practicing your walk, so thishas been years in the making.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, when I was little, my mom and my grandma
and I we all were really intopageants and I never really
thought I wanted to do that.
But just at four years old Iwas mimicking on the TV and I
grew up competitively dancingand I did Miss Drill, utah, in
Utah, and I just really lovedthe experience and I started to
think when I turned 19, I wantedto do pageants and so I started

(02:04):
when I was 19 years old in theMiss America opportunity and I'm
now 26.
So I did it for eight yearsbefore I won the title of Miss
Utah.
But it took a lot of hard workto get there and I competed for
seven years and 13 competitionsbefore I even won my first local
title.
So it was a lot of hard workbut my entire life cultivated in
winning the title.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Let's talk about that .
I mean, it's not just you know.
I think we're finally movingaway from that stigma of, oh,
it's a beauty pageant, but no,it's actually a scholarship
program and it's a lot of work.
I mean you're doing interviews,you're doing your talent
portion.
Talk about kind of the work anddedication that goes into that.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah, I like to call Miss America a professional
development program, becausethat's really what it did for me
.
I was terrible at publicspeaking.
I was scared to raise my handin class.
I was really academicallydriven, but I didn't have that
confidence that I really needed,and so the Miss America program
really instilled that within me, and part of that was the
interview portion and practicingfor onstage questions, speaking

(03:06):
in front of large groups, andso my first competition I
couldn't even finish my sentence.
It was kind of hilarious.
My family and I joke about howit was a little bit embarrassing
.
But now I could stand in frontof groups and auditoriums of
people, talk about my passions,about the Miss America
opportunity, my journey, my life, my career as a child life
specialist, and so that is whatreally drew me to the Miss

(03:26):
America opportunity in the firstplace.
But it is a lot of hard workand it is a scholarship program,
and so I graduated from theUniversity of Utah.
I'm pursuing my master's degreeright now and I've been awarded
over $18,000 of scholarshipsthrough the Miss America
opportunity.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
That's wonderful Congratulations, thank you.
Let's talk about what you'redoing with your education.
You work as a child lifespecialist at.
Primary Children's Hospital.
Can you talk about what thatentails?

Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, it's kind of hard.
It's a niche career that a lotof people don't know about, but
my whole role is to increasecoping for children and families
throughout hospitalization.
So it looks a little differentdepending if you're inpatient or
outpatient.
Me personally I'm outpatient inthe emergency department and
then I cover a short-terminpatient unit and then
long-term infusion patients andso it's a lot of development to

(04:11):
appropriate preparation so Itranslate doctor words into kid
language so they understandwhat's going to happen.
So I teach them about IVs usingsoft language, enemas, any kind
of invasive procedure, so thekid knows and feels empowered
step by step through theprocedure.
Development to appropriatedistraction so I love toys.
My favorite distractiontechnique to use in the ER for

(04:32):
procedures is I spy books.
So I do a lot of spot it, a lotof I spy books, alternate focus
, just to make the hard stuffeasier.
Therapeutic play, development toappropriate diagnosis education
.
So I teach kids about theircancer diagnosis, diabetes,
arthritis, anything you can name.
Translate it from that doctor,talk to the kid talk.
And then I also do grief andbereavement support for families

(04:53):
and children when thedevastating loss of a child you
know, I actually my I call hermy niece.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
She's one of my closest friends daughters.
She had childhood leukemia andwas at primary children's and I
got to see some of yourcolleagues, you know, helping
her to understand and they wouldget the doll out and show her
you know, her port or where theIV was going to go, and it was
just beautiful that you're thereto help them kind of understand
and not maybe feel as scared.

(05:22):
Yeah, exactly, and you wrote abook, yes, mabel's Hospital
Adventures yes, what's thatabout?

Speaker 3 (05:28):
Mabel goes to the hospital.
It's her very first time and sonew things are scary.
And so Mabel goes.
She has a tummy ache, herdoctor says she needs to go to
the emergency department andthere she has all sorts of tests
done.
But child life specialist, msApril, comes in and teaches her
about the test.
So she gets a CT scan, an IV, Ithink, an ultrasound, and she's
empowered throughout theseprocedures because she knew

(05:50):
exactly what was going to happenand does some distractions, ms
April.
She ends up having surgery andshe talks about how it's hard to
be at the hospital.
But something that was easierwas play in the playroom.
And she realized that shewasn't the only kid there when
she saw other teaching otherkids about hospitalization who
might not have experienced itbefore through the children's
book.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
That's awesome.
What drove you to want to writethis book and want to work in
the field that you are?
You said you're pursuing yourmaster's as well, in hospital
administration.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
Yeah, I stumbled upon child life.
I always knew I want to work inpediatrics, but I think
psychosocial support is reallyimportant for children, and so I
was volunteering at PrimaryChildren's in the oncology unit
and I was underneath working achild life specialist.
And so the first day of myvolunteer orientation I met a
child life specialist, learnedthat it was about coping at the

(06:40):
hospital and empowering childrenthroughout their hospital
journeys and supporting familiesin a really special way, and I
changed my major that very dayand so that was really special
for me and it's such a uniquecareer and I feel like it really
is made for me.
But what made me want to writethe book is there's very little
resources about child lifespecialists and wanting to

(07:02):
prepare children and let themknow what's going to happen at
the hospital and the power ofplay.
90% of children who arehospitalized end up having
symptoms of anxiety ordepression or post-traumatic
stress after hospitalization.
So it's just sharing the powerof the power.
Play for these kids is whatinspired me to write the book.
But I want to be in this careerforever and so I also want to

(07:24):
make a difference forhospitalized kids and I have
this different lens of thatpsychosocial support, which is
why I want to be in hospitaladministration, which is my
master's degree.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
That's beautiful.
I love that you keep going backto empowerment you know,
whether you're in the hospitalor just pursuing your career.
Tell me, how did your time inCanyons?
You were both a student hereand you worked with us as well
for a while.
How has that impacted you?

Speaker 3 (07:51):
I think I've always been really big about academics
and my academic journey in KaneSchool District, I think,
empowered me with the confidenceI can do big things.
I was in our ALPS program, Iwent to Bella Vista, I went to
Ridgecrest, I went to ButlerMiddle, I went to Brighton High
School.
So I grew up in Canyons and somany of my teachers really just

(08:13):
believed in me and I think if Ididn't have that belief within,
that was instilled in me in ayoung age, I wouldn't have been
driven to choose such highthings.
And my fourth grade teacher, msBunderson, is probably my
biggest inspiration for me.
She really believed in me whenI had little confidence in my
academics and that is whatreally stuck with me for so long

(08:37):
and for so many years.
But also being on the drillteam is what really, I think,
cultivated in my dedication, myperseverance, my grit, my hard
work and resilience, and sobeing a part of Brighton High
Drill is definitely whatempowered me to be a Miss Utah.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
And you're carrying that with you on your Miss Utah
journey and now into your worktrying to become Miss America as
well.
So Chelsea Devine was yourdrill coach at Brighton.
She's now at Hillcrest, butshe's also been helping you with
your talent portion.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
Yes, I would not be the dancer or woman or leader I
am today without Chelsea.
I really feel like she kind ofwhat I touched on with my fourth
grade teacher she just reallybelieved in me and dance was
something that you knowcompetitively dancing or being
critiqued a lot but I felt likeChelsea always was, gave me a
chance and saw the potentialthat I had and that really

(09:36):
allowed me to keep pursuing mydreams, and I don't know if I
would have stuck with dance foras long as I did if it wasn't
for her really empowering me,and so it's really special.
Chelsea was my coach back in2013.
And she helped me choreographor she did choreograph all of it
my dance for Miss Utah, and soit was really special that she
was a coach a decade ago and shestill is impacting my life

(09:58):
today and I'm really excited towork with her for my Miss
America talent as well.

Speaker 2 (10:03):
That's fantastic.
Now you, when we were talkingearlier, you mentioned for your
talent portion there was a bitof a hiccup right beforehand,
and I'm so impressed by this.
You actually tore a muscleduring rehearsals.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
Yes, that's what happens when you quote unquote
stop dancing at 18 and you'restill dancing at 26.
You're just not as limber asyou used to.
You're not dancing every singleday.
And so, yeah, right, during ourrehearsals Miss Utah is
actually a week long event, andso we had our talent rehearsals
in the morning and I did it fullout and I tore my muscle, and

(10:38):
it was quite devastating for mebecause being Miss Utah was a
goal I've worked nearly a decadefor, and I didn't want a torn
muscle to hinder me from that,and so that was a very
emotionally hard moment for me,but luckily I kept stretching
icy, hot, all the things, icepacks trying to make it work,
and my muscles still hurt theentire week, but I was able to

(10:59):
push through.
So it was a really stressfulexperience, but that just goes
to show that that determinationand grit and resilience can come
through even then.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
And you mentioned in your post too.
You had a lot of supportbackstage as well, and I think
that's so beautiful from yourfellow competitors.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
Or you know you're all competing for the same thing
, but you're all also rootingfor each other.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, I think the sisterhood about the Miss
America opportunity is one ofthe most beautiful things.
When you are competing against50 other girls for the same
thing, you think there'd be alittle bit less camaraderie.
But I really feel like webelieve in each other and I
would have been just as happyfor another girl to win the
crown too.
And I always say differentjudges would have been a
different outcome.
And some of the best peopleI've met one I've originally

(11:43):
crossed paths with are pageantwomen, and I wouldn't be who I
am today without the impact ofthem as well.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
That's beautiful.
Tell me you're.
You're almost in another phase,another level of competition.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
Yes, national, nationally.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
So how are you preparing to go into that
competition?
You've got couple of weeks.

Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, it's less than 100 days before I check in for
Miss America and people keepsaying are you nervous?
Are you nervous?
And my answer is no, I'm justexcited and I think it's because
I'm confident in the skillsthat I have as a Miss Utah.
And competing at pageants isreally I'm just myself.
I'm Paris and I'm Miss Utah andI already know who I am.

(12:33):
I know what I believe in, Iknow my community service
initiative, the power of play,and I know exactly what I'm
going to do on the Miss Americastage.
So of course, I'm stillprepping.
I'm still really working onthose interview skills.
You've got to be very refinedto be a Miss America, but I'm
just excited to represent ourstate and all of these years
working in pageants has preparedme for this.
So I'm sure I'll get nervousonce I'm there, but I'm really

(12:57):
only excited at this time.
That's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
You know.
It just shows that you have alevel of confidence that will
just boost you up to the top.
We know you're going to make it, thank you, and it sounds like
you have a great support systemtoo, from you know, your coaches
to your mom.
Hi, mom, your coaches to yourmom.
Hi mom, it's wonderful to hearthat you are just achieving this

(13:19):
dream that you've been workingfor for so long.
What would your message be toany of our Kenyan students who
want to follow in your footstepsor are worried about achieving
their own dreams?

Speaker 3 (13:30):
I think that it's belief in yourself.
When I first started competingin pageants or even applying for
my child life internships,anything in my life it didn't
come.
The first try, the second try,the third try, the fourth try.
Even with my career, I had todo four different rounds to get
an internship to become acertified child life specialist,

(13:50):
and so dreams worth havingaren't going to come easily, and
so it's going to take hard workand it's going to take
perseverance, and failure willhappen.
So my message is expect failureit's just a part of the journey
and keep going, keep trying,and if it's something that you
want enough, you can make ithappen.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
I think that's exactly right.
You know, like you've said,you've spent so many years
trying and competing to becomeMiss Utah and had you stopped
your first time, you wouldn't bewhere you are today.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
Exactly, that's beautiful.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Thank you for joining us, for sharing your message,
and we just wish you all thebest of luck next month at the
Miss America competition.

Speaker 3 (14:33):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
Thank you for having me, of course, and thank you for
listening.
If there's a topic you wouldlike to hear discussed on the
podcast, send us an email tocommunications at
canyonsdistrictorg.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect
Canyons.
Connect with us on Twitter,facebook or Instagram at Canyons
District or on our website,canyonsdistrictorg.