When it comes to demonstrating poise, talent, style and service to others, Marygrace Knuffke of Kalispell takes the crown. 

Crowned Miss Montana’s Teen in June, the 17-year-old won a full-ride scholarship to the University of Alabama and represented the state at the Miss America’s Teen pageant in September. The Glacier High School senior maintains a 4.0 GPA, serves as student body president and works part-time for the Glacier Range Riders. 

She didn’t get into the pageant scene until her sophomore year of high school when she competed in the Miss Montana Teen USA pageant.  

“I didn't actually have any background in pageantry,” she said. 

Competing in pageants was not something she had considered before. 

“Even as a little girl,” Knuffke said.  

Everything changed with a smile. 

"I was performing for the JV cheer team, and my JV coach told me I had a pageant smile after I was done performing, and I guess ... something clicked. And I was like, you know what? I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna sign up for a pageant,” she said. “And I did really well. I ended up winning most of the awards and placed fourth runner up.”  

Knuffke hadn’t planned to compete again until a field director for the Miss Montana Scholarship Organization reached out after seeing a video of her performing fouetté turns en pointe on Instagram. 

“... [she] reached out to me, saying she'd love to see me do that talent on the Miss Montana's Teen stage. And so I called her,” Knuffke said, excited to showcase 13 years of ballet training. 

"So, I went for it, and my parents helped me to complete that journey,” she said.  

She entered pageant week for the experience, to have fun and meet other teens, not expecting to win. But she impressed the judges with her en pointe performance as Kitri in Act III of Don Quixote, earning the overall talent award and a $2,500 scholarship. 

“I wanted to personify a teenage personality, so I chose her because of her sassiness and just every emotion she was able to express. I liked the little fan as the prop too. It was fun to work with,” Knuffke said. 

ONE OF the core elements of the Miss Montana’s and Miss America’s Teen programs is developing a community service initiative. 

“It’s something that you create, that you hold to your heart and holds a lot of meaning to your life,” she said. 

Her community service initiative, Grace in Action for Those Who Came Before Us, focuses on bringing comfort and connection to senior citizens. 

As part of Grace in Action, Knuffke visits nursing homes where she plays piano, dances, reads to and talks with residents, and hands out “Sunshine Bags” filled with crossword puzzles and letters from local elementary students.  

“I chose to visit nursing homes and to help bring more connection to our residents there because my grandma, she was in a nursing home for the last period of her life, and she had a hard time and kind of lost her spark. So, after that experience, I really wanted to focus on bringing more attention to our elderly,” Knuffke said.  

She hopes to bridge what she sees as a disconnect between youth and older adults, proposing that Glacier’s Interact Club, which focuses on community service and volunteering, incorporate her initiative. 

“When I would go visit the nursing homes, I realized there was so much to learn from our elderly, who have already ... lived every experience and can give you that guidance for your own life,” she said. 

Loneliness was another motivation for starting Grace in Action. In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory on loneliness, isolation and “the healing effects of social connection and community.” 

“One-third of our elderly experience loneliness and it’s also a huge epidemic with our youth, so if we can be able to connect the two generations then that brings less loneliness and more happiness and grace,” she said. 

Knuffke says including “grace” in the name of the name reflects both her mission and her mindset. 

“I have learned to have grace in my life, and that's been a hard thing — a huge challenge of for me — because I am a perfectionist,” she said. “Being able to adjust and being OK with where I am.  

“Having grace was so important to this journey, also because if I hadn't gone for every opportunity and given myself grace at each failure, I wouldn't have ended up where I am now,” she said. 

The Miss America’s Teen pageant also included an off-stage interview with judges about her character, interests and community work, as well as an on-stage question. 

Knuffke spoke about nursing home care funding, referencing Sen. Becky Beard, R-Elliston, who sponsored Senate Bill 100, which aimed to revise funding for assisted living care but failed to pass. 

“I also wanted to kind of get the word out that nursing home funding has been cut and there had been a lot of merging between nursing homes and that impacts residents,” Knuffke added. 

TO PREPARE for moments like this, Knuffke worked weekly with a personal coach in the weeks leading up to the competition. They worked on a variety of skills, from public speaking and interviewing to posture and walking. 

“That was one thing that I talked a lot about with my coach, so I was excited when I heard that as my question because I knew what I wanted to say,” she said. 

At the end of the coaching, she was surprised at her ability to “convey who I am concisely” and confidently. 

“I learned so much,” she said with a laugh. “I feel like I learned more about myself in those 70 days than I did, like, my whole 17 years of being alive.”  

“I decided what I wanted to be and who I was in those 70 days," she added.  

Despite stereotypes about beauty pageants, Knuffke said she found the experience empowering. 

“It was really inspiring to see the amazing talents and the coordination and the way that people elegantly would answer questions. It was amazing to see that in my peers,” she said. “You’re not really exposed to so much of that other than at Miss America.  

“I made a lot of friends that week, and I really lived in the moment, and it was one of the best memories of my life.” 

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected]. 

    Marygrace Knuffke of Kalispell performs the part of Kitri in Don Quixote Act III at Miss America's Teen held in September. Knuffke said she picked the ballet costume over the summer with the assistance of Katie Sako of the Northwest Ballet Company. (Courtesy photo)