Laura Kathleen Mesley, Miss Meadville Area Outstanding Teen, will represent Crawford County at the Miss Pennsylvania Outstanding Teen Pageant on Friday evening at Nazareth High School.

It is only the second year for the Outstanding Teen Pageant which was introduced as part of the state event last year. She is the first contestant from this area to take part in it.

Mesley, 16, is a daughter of Daniel and Lana Mesley.

Her talent will be a vocal selection, but she is keeping the title a secret until the pageant.

Her community service platform for the event is multiple sclerosis, which she chose because a cousin, Brenda Mesley, was diagnosed with it a few years ago and has been a role model and inspiration to Laura.

Working for the MS Society “has given me the opportunity to give something back to her,” Mesley said. She raised $850 for the organization through various fundraisers as Miss Meadville Outstanding Teen. The work ties in with her platform issue “to make sure you pass it on, sharing your talents with those less fortunate than you.”

She hopes to graduate from Allegheny College with a major in psychology and a minor in theater arts and to become either an orthodontist, dentist or child psychologist.

Mesley is a junior at Saegertown High School where her grade point average is 97.66. She has been an honor roll student, named to “Who’s Who Among America’s High School Students,” class representative, a member of National Honor Society, and placed fifth at district chorus and 11th at regional chorus. She also has been a member of the audio-visual club, a varsity football cheerleader for three years, member of the high school band dance team, Spanish Club and performed in 11 musicals including “The Wizard of Oz” and “My Fair Lady.”

Mesley has had two years of flute lessons, three years in community theater productions, six years of voice lessons and 11 years of dance lessons. She has been a church cantor for five years and was invited to join the Allegheny College Choir.

She also danced in four productions of “The Nutcracker” ballet.

Mesley has been busy since she was crowned last summer — making appearances at local events and working on her platform. She also has been developing her talent, working out at the gym and fine-tuning her interview skills in preparation for the state competition.

The competition includes evening gown and interview as well as active wear (not swimsuit) in which contestants wear sportswear. There also is a category for academic performance.

The experience has been a new one for Mesley, “something different,” she said. She believes it has helped her grow so much as a person and helped her meet a whole new group of people.

She decided to enter the pageant because of her role models — previous pageant contest winners such as Danielle Bazylak, Sarah Bazylak and Amanda Flick who also go to Mesley’s church, St. Agatha’s Roman Catholic.