Pine-Richland student to compete in National American Miss Pageant

Few pre-teens have the talent and discipline to compete in a pageant. These attributes are tested further if they must summon the poise and versatility necessary to fulfill areas of pageant participation online via the Zoom videoconferencing app.

Siena Rose Smith, of Pine-Richland, daughter of Rhea Corso and Joseph Smith, placed in the top five in the state for the National American Miss Pageant. She won City Queen, with the title of Miss Pittsburgh in her pre-teen division.

Her interest and preparation for this pageant started about a year ago.

Despite the pandemic-related adjustments, Smith took the situation in stride, welcoming the opportunity to gain experience and enhance her resume.

“The Pennsylvania State pageant was canceled in September due to the covid-19 pandemic. I had the option to either wait until next year’s state pageant or apply for Pennsylvania’s Appointed Representative Program and be judged virtually based on four areas: personality on Zoom interviews, presentation during personal introduction video, my resume showing accomplishments in my activities, school and community service, and a 200-word essay describing my accomplishments and goals,” she said. “I will always remember my first pageant experience as all virtual, and maybe I missed some of the excitement of being in person, wearing a formal dress and being on stage, but I am grateful I had the chance to still go for it and compete from home.”

Siena’s list of accomplishments is formidable, especially for an 11-year-old.

A piano student at Center for Young Musicians in Wexford since the age of 4, she performed numerous recitals around Pittsburgh and auditioned and won Superior Performance Award to play with best students of state at Dorothy Sutton Music Festival at Penn State University’s School of Music in November 2019.

She has been a martial arts student at Zang Taekwondo in Wexford since 2018. Two levels away from black belt status, she won second place in her first tournament in sparring in October 2019, and a Gold Medal in Forms from Virtual Tournament, June 2020.

Smith is a cheerleader for Pine Richland Youth Football and Cheer, which is still in the current cheer season.

National American Miss Pageant has the state level and national level (participants who make the top five in the state are invited to attend). The pageant focuses on developing confidence, poise and valuable communication skills that participants can use in everything they do.

Smith, with her crown and Miss Pittsburgh banner, will compete in Orlando, Fla., against other city queens in November.