Windham student learning confidence through pageants

By Erin Rose

Windham student Peyton Dore is learning to conquer the stage as she prepares to compete in the state’s Women of Service Pageant in March.

Windham student Peyton Dore, 7, a second grader
at Windham Christian Academy, won the Coastal
Maine Women of Service Young Princess title
in Windham in August and will compete in the
Maine Women of Service Pageant in March. 
COURTESY PHOTO

“I like playing dress up,” Peyton, 7, said when asked why she loves doing pageants. “It’s fun when I get to see the judges and my family” from the stage, including her dad, Troy, and 9-year-old brother Landon.

Kristin Dore, Peyton’s mother, explained that the duo decided to start competing in pageants at the encouragement of her pageant coach.

“Her coach, who is also the director of the pageant, Windham High graduate Morgan Wing, reached out and said ‘Peyton should do these!’” she said. “I figured she liked getting dressed up, so why not?”

Peyton entered the pageant world in January and has found success in the nine months since. She earned the Coastal Maine Women of Service Young Princess title at the local competition, held in Windham in August. That title guarantees her place at the state event and the potential chance to compete for national titles.

In addition to the overall competition, Peyton participates in a number of different optional categories that allow her to showcase beauty and fashion, including American Wear, Photogenic, Casual Wear, and Fitness. She most recently won titles in several of those categories as well.

In her most recent interview round, she was one of several contestants go through to determine who will take the crown, and Peyton’s judges have noticed how she’s improved in the short time she’s being doing pageants.

“Mrs. Maine was one of her practice judges, and then was a judge at the recent pageant,” Kristin said. “She said it was night and day, that Peyton had improved so much.”

One of the titles Peyton won in the regional competition is especially meaningful.

“She also won Miss Congeniality,” Kristin said. “All the contestants vote on that. That means she showed what the pageant represents.”

Peyton, who is in second grade at Windham Christian Academy, is known to be helpful backstage, cheering up younger contestants and helping them get pumped to walk the stage, even helping them with their clothes and accessories.

“One of them didn’t want to put her cute shoes on, and her mom was trying to put cute ones I liked on,” Peyton explained. “I told her, ‘You’re just going to wear them for a couple minutes and then take them off,’ and she started to wear them.”

“I was also telling her that her outfits were cute,” she added.

She also helps to get other kids energized before they take the stage.

“The little kids, if they’re in front of me, I try to get them excited so that they’re ready to get on stage” she said, adding that she wants to make sure “they’re not scared.”

Kristin says that Peyton’s actions are an example of how supportive the community is backstage at the Women of Service pageants.

“Everyone helps each other, even if you’re in the same group as someone,” she said. “It’s very helpful and very uplifting.”

One major component of the pageant is that each contestant must have a platform to provide service to their community. Peyton has chosen to pass out bags to homeless people in the area which includes granola bars, hand sanitizers, pretzels, gloves, and other small items.

“We did it in kindergarten and first grade as a fun project,” Peyton said, adding that they give out bags when they see people in need in the community. “I’ve kept doing it.”

Originally nervous when facing the competitions, Peyton is learning to embrace the stage, a skill that will help her as she enjoys dancing with the Maine Dance Center.

“I used to be scared, but then I get brave,” Peyton said. 

“She’s very nervous when she goes out there and then she’s a whole different kid,” Kristin added.

The pageants provide a great opportunity for Peyton to be the competitor, as the family frequently attends sporting events for her brother. It also provides time for Kristin and Peyton to spend together.

“She’s always been the sideline sibling so it’s great to have her moment,” Kristin said. “When she won the Natural Beauty award, she was very happy, and said, ‘Momma, you did this with me’. It was a nice moment.”

“She knows that we’re going all over the place with her brother, and it’s nice to have her shining moment,” she said.

The Maine Women of Service Pageant is part of the International and American Women of Service Pageant organization. It is a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to empowering girls and women through a commitment to service, education and leadership development. The pageant has nine age divisions, ranging from girls as young as 5 in the Little Princess division to over 50 in the Classic division. <

Windham stylist earns ‘International Women of Service Miss 2025’ title

By Ed Pierce

Deeply devoted to helping others in the community, Morgan Wing of Windham has been honored as the International Women of Service Miss 2025 at the organization’s pageant held Sept. 2 to Sept. 7 in Orlando, Florida.

Morgan Wing of Windham, 20, has been
crowned International Women of
Service Miss 2025 during a pageant in
Orlando, Florida from Sept. 2 to 
Sept. 7. She is a 2023 graduate of
Windham High School and an advocate
for children who are learning how to 
navigate in life while having
divorced parents.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
  

Wing, 20, has lived in Windham for 11 years and is a hairstylist at the All About U salon in Auburn. She hopes to someday own her own salon and is a 2023 graduate of Windham High School, going on to complete studies at the SpaTech Institute in Westbrook.

This is the fourth pageant title that Wing has won, and she says she was excited and humbled to hear her name called as the winner of the International Women of Service Miss 2025 Pageant.

“My personal platform is Separated not Different,” she said. “Through my platform, I advocate for children who are learning how to navigate having divorced parents. As someone who has divorced parents, I know the difficulties and emotions firsthand. So, I have partnered with Kids First Center, a non-profit that holds classes not only for the parents but also the children to learn how to navigate their new normal.”

According to Wing, she chose to compete in the International Women of Service Miss 2025 Pageant in particular because of its community service opportunities.

“My goal is to grow ‘Separated Not Different’ to reach as many people as possible,” she said.

As a student at Windham High School, Wing says she first became interested in pageants because one of her aunts was competing in one. Through her aunt’s encouragement, Wing took a chance and entered a pageant. She says it allowed her to step out of her comfort zone and prompted her to become more involved in her community, and to create an incredible platform of service to the community that she’s truly proud of.

International and American Women of Service Pageants exist to enrich the lives of women and girls of all ages through an unsurpassed pageant, sisterhood, and volunteer experience. ​The program offers contestants in their organization extraordinary opportunities for growth, personal achievement, community involvement, and excellence in a fun and trendy community of sisterhood.​Contestants are ambassadors of many worthy causes and charities and represent our platform, Crown of Service, and strives to be a pageant that is inclusive to all and has our core values at the forefront.

Winning the International Women of Service Miss 2025 Pageant took a concerted effort from Wing.

“Pageants take months of preparation in many different ways,” she said. “You have to find the perfect gown and your entire wardrobe, get out in your community and volunteer, grow your platform, practice your walking, prep for interviews and most importantly have fun with your title and sister queens.”

She says that of everything she worked on over the past year leading up to the International Women of Service Miss 2025 Pageant, improving her interview skills was at the top of her list and was worth the long hours and hard work she put into it.

“Leaving the interview room, I was so proud of myself for sharing my story with the judges,” Wing said

Her mother, Melissa Johnston, and stepfather Andrew Johnston live in Windham. Her father, Mike Wing, and stepmother Lindsey Wing, live in Englewood, Florida.

“My family and friends are so supportive of my pageant journey,” Wing said. “I even had 14 of my family and friends in the audience and many more watching the live stream of the pageant.”

Winning the title as International Women of Service Miss 2025 will present some amazing opportunities to travel and promote the organization and her personal platform, Wing said.

“I have plans to go to New York for our Forum event,” she said. “As a part of my prize package, I get to go on a Bahamas cruise with my sister queens.”

She wants the public to know that competing in a pageant builds confidence in young women and is not only meaningful to those who choose to compete but also for everyone in the community.

“Pageantry is about more than just dressing up and looking pretty,” Wing said. “It is about being an advocate for something you are passionate about, self-confidence, community involvement and so many other things. This organization embodies those qualities.” <

Windham High School student captures 'USOA Miss Teen Maine' crown

By Ed Pierce

A Windham High School senior has won the 2023 United States of America Miss Teen Maine Pageant and will represent the state at the USOA National Pageant in Nevada next spring. Morgan Wing of Windham, 17, was awarded the teen crown and title Oct. 9 during the USOA Maine Pageant at the Senator Inn in Augusta.

Morgan Wing, 17, a senior at Windham High School, has
been crowned as 2023 USOA Miss Teen Maine. She will
represent Maine in the National USOA Miss Teen Pageant
in Las Vegas, Nevada in April. SUBMITTED PHOTO  

Wing had been crowned USOA Teen Windham in April and she also was honored with the People’s Choice Award during the state pageant in Augusta, which allows her to donate $3,000 to her charity of choice, Project Sparrow, which aligns with her interest and commitment to helping kids in foster care. During the state pageant, Wing also received the Congeniality Award, as voted on by the other contestants in her division as the contestant who best embodies the spirit of the pageant.

During the pageant, judges were impressed with Wing’s deep level of involvement in the community and her platform idea of something called a “Journey Bag” which provides backpacks or duffle bags filled with essentials such as toothbrush toothpaste, deodorant and other personal hygiene items for children entering the DHHS Child Protective Services foster care system.

“My hope is to provide some comfort in a time that is scary and out of their control,” Wing said. “These kids often are placed in foster care with nothing but the clothes on their back and the ‘Journey Bag’ gives them something that is theirs to keep, no matter where their journey takes them.”

Pageant judges also praised Wing’s volunteer work for the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, Honor Flight Maine, the Windham Summerfest Parade, and the Dempsey Challenge, among many opportunities that she has demonstrated her dedication and commitment to worthy community causes.

She is the daughter of Melissa and Andrew Johnston of Windham and Mike and Lindsay Wing of Englewood, Florida. She has two younger brothers named Everett and Liam and is hoping to attend cosmetology school at the Paul Mitchell School of Hair in Manchester, New Hampshire following graduation from high school and become a hair color specialist.

According to Wing, she first became interested in the USOA pageant because her aunt, Nykki Stevens, was also a participant in a different division. She encouraged her to move out of her comfort zone and says that it has allowed her to become more involved in her community and to create an incredible platform that she is very proud of.

Along with Stevens, Wing says that her role models are parents because they are hard-working individuals who are always willing to help others and give back and have always provided a safe loving home for her brothers and her while working together to not only provide for her but to show her incredible love and support.”

She said that her family is her biggest support, and she cannot thank them enough for helping her become the 2023 USOA Miss Teen Maine.

In all, it has taken her almost a full year of attending many workshops and participating in community events to prepare for the USOA competition.

During the state pageant, she competed in three categories with the first being a personal interview where she sat with three judges individually and answered their questions. The second category was athletic wear, and the final category was the evening gown competition, in which she wore a coral pink floor-length Sherri Hill Gown from Grayce Bridal in Portland.

At Windham High School, Wing has been on the Honor Roll from her freshman through her junior years. She’s a member of the WHS National Honor Society and the WHS Spanish National Honor Society.

When not volunteering or in school, Wing enjoys reading, cosmetology, word search puzzles and time spent as an assistant director of a children’s theater group.

Wing and her family are now in the process of raising money so she can compete in the National USOA Teen Pageant in April 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. She’s also seeking local sponsors to help with the cost of wardrobe and other essentials such as hair, make-up and clothing items at the National Pageant.

Anyone interested in donating or serving as a sponsor is asked to send an email to [email protected]

You can also follow her journey and reign as 2023 Miss USOA Maine Teen on Facebook or Instagram at USOA MAINE TEEN. <