Miss Nebraska Tween, Keeley Kouma, will head to nationals in Baltimore, Maryland, to compete in America’s National Teenage Scholarship Organization pageant. Keeley funded her way to Baltimore in part by making and selling dog treats.
Keeley Kouma is on her way to the big stage, and Seward has helped get her there.
Most notably, Seward’s dogs have helped get her there.
Keeley, a fourth grader from Seward, was crowned Miss Nebraska Tween earlier this year by the Midwest National Teenage Scholarship Organization in partnership with America’s National Teenage Scholarship Organization.
She will compete Nov. 20-25 for the national title in the ANTSO pageant, which promotes academic excellence and community involvement.
Though Keeley already volunteers in the community, she took her involvement a step further this summer and started her own business, Pretty Paw Pastries, making homemade dog treats and selling them to help pay her way to the national pageant.
She put her whole heart into the business, mixing, baking, packaging and selling about 1,000 bags of bone-shaped treats.
“I chose to do it because I love animals, and puppies are a great way to do it,” Keeley said. “And I do like baking, sometimes. I learned that Seward has a lot of dogs, and they love their dogs.”
She opened a bank account to manage her business, learning what she needed to spend for supplies and how much she could save for her trip to the national pageant in Baltimore, Maryland.
“I learned how to use the money in different ways,” Keeley said, something she said she hasn’t learned in school yet.
Throughout the summer, she donated some of her dog treats to law enforcement K9s and area animal shelters. She sold them on social media, at a local bakery and at the Seward Farmers Market, and she recently made a business deal with an indoor dog park in Lincoln.
She also worked a number of other fundraisers, including a princess party, car wash, selling beads at a Husker game and manning a lemonade stand to help raise money for her trip.
Keeley also spoke with more than 50 businesses in Seward, asking them to sponsor a portion of her trip—and many of them said yes.
As of Nov. 7, she had raised all but $250 of her $5,000 goal to get to Baltimore. That will cover her plane tickets, hotel, transportation and pageant fees for a week.
“The pageant has pushed her to be more involved in the community,” Keeley’s mom, Nickie Kouma, said.
Aside from attending school and running her business, Keeley has volunteered for Operation Christmas Child, the Friendship Home, Huskers Helping the Homeless and as a special needs respite night volunteer, among other activities.
She participates in dance and church activities, too, but her most notable accomplishment is her martial arts training—she holds a second-degree black belt in taekwondo.
“I really just began taekwondo because my older brothers were in taekwondo. I wanted to be like them,” Keeley said.
She went through 15 steps to earn her black belt, first focusing on commitment. For her second-degree designation, she’s focused on the word “transform.”
“I’m still transforming to make myself into a better person. I had to use a lot of commitment, determination and perseverance,” she said.
Keeley follows her favorite quote to help her continue transforming: “Love other people even when other people don’t love you.”
“My mom, the last thing she tells me before I get out of the van before school is to be kind to everybody, even to those mean people who bully you and who are mean, to be kind to them because they’re the ones who need it most,” she said.
Keeley started her pageant journey with a fourth-place finish in her first competition. Then, a queen asked if she wanted to participate in the ANTSO pageant.
“So I did, and I won!” she said.
In order to remain eligible for the crown, the queens have to keep up their grades in school and stay involved with community service.
Keeley is a member of a Facebook group with her sister queens, where they share activities and experiences along the way, sometimes partnering on service projects.
“She never really has to do it alone if she doesn’t want to,” Nickie said.
Keeley will leave for Baltimore Nov. 19 for the three-day pageant and a week’s worth of community service, including serving meals to homeless residents on Thanksgiving.
“I have a big heart for homeless, so that’s going to be exciting,” Keeley said.
She also will visit the Washington, D.C., area for the second time this year—the first was a trip for her taekwondo world tournament.
As for Pretty Paw Pastries, Keeley wants to continue the business after the pageant—and expand it.
“After Christmas, I want to make kitty treats!” she said with a smile. “I’ve already started making catnip toys that I’ve hand sewed with my mom. They get a toy with their treats.”
When she gets back to Seward, Keeley hopes to speak about her experience with civic groups like Kiwanis.
Nickie said Keeley has participated in a runway show with a modeling agency in Omaha and has learned to speak with business representatives when gaining sponsorships—activities she wouldn’t have gotten to do if it weren’t for the pageant.
“The pageant’s just been excellent for opening opportunities for her,” she said. “She wouldn’t make it without Seward, that’s for sure.”
