Ndirangu wins Miss Kansas’ Outstanding Teen 2022

In a competition held March 27 in Pratt, Niomi Ndirangu of Wichita was crowned the 2022 Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen. The season was spring instead of summer and the stage was at the Liberty Middle School instead of Pratt Community College, as in previous years of the competition, but at the heart of the matter it was the same moving and building experience for the 14 contestants and other young girls who participated as Sunflowers.

“What was fun was meeting all of the Sunflowers and listening to their answers in our Sunflower mentoring activity, knowing that there is a future Miss Kansas or Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen standing right before our eyes,” Ndirangu said. “I have competed in pageants since I was five years old. I started out doing glitz pageants then I moved to a system called Our Diamond Miss. I continued to do that for eight years, until I decided to compete for the Job Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen. When I found out I won, it was just surreal.”

This year’s MKSOT contestants spent a long weekend in Pratt rehearsing their stage presence, practicing fitness moves and sharing their chosen platforms of emphasis.

“The most challenging part was definitely the long days of rehearsal,” Ndirangu said. “Most memorable was my crowning moment. I have always had this image in my head of what I thought a perfect pageant girl was. Even though I wasn’t her, I always knew I had the attributes to do the job but I had feared that other people wouldn’t see that in me. The second I found out I was the new Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen, I knew my life would be changed forever. That crowning moment is unforgettable.”

Contestants from Ark City, Wichita, Medicine Lodge, Ulysses, Kansas City, El Dorado, Moran, Cimarron and Augusta focused on issues like mental health awareness, youth mentoring, positive thinking and special needs as they worked together to earn a donated $14,000 in scholarships. MKSOT Bookings Director Stephanie Harris said that more than $3M in cash and inkind scholarships were available to the contests in the 2022 pageant.

Ndirangu, who has a special interest in music and theatre performance, also has epilepsy and used her experience with that disability as her personal and social impact platform.

“Seventy-million people in the world have epilepsy. Narrow that down to 470,000 children in the United States, and I just happen to be one of them,” she said. “Throughout my experience with Epilepsy I was bullied, lost, and none of my teachers knew how to help me. Now imagine how many students, children, and people have seizures, and die because someone doesn’t know the proper protocol on how to handle a seizure. 1 in 1,000 to be exact. That is why with my Social Impact: Epilepsy Awareness #ItsaNoBrainer, I took the initiative and have trained and educated over 1,600 individuals in Seizure First Aid Training.”

Ndirangu has already taken the intiative to make a difference in her new job as 2022 MKSOT.

“As Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen I will continue my partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation of Missouri & Kansas, and work on a National level to provide Seizure First Aid Training to schools,” she said. “I will work to create true authentic connections with our sponsors and donors, and shine a light on all the positive aspects of the Miss Kansas Organization. I will recruit girls to join our organization by sharing my journey on how being uniquely different is a positive attribute. Continue to grow our sponsors and bring aboard a laptop sponsor.”

Ndirangu said that ever since she was a little girl she always watched Miss America and aspired to be her.

“I knew that I wanted to make a positive difference in the world,” she said. “Earning the job of Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen does just that. She is an advocate, leader, and mentor for Teens in Kansas. I am ready to go to Miss America’s Outstanding and do just that.”

Ndirangu was originally born in Traverse City, Michigan, but her hometown is El Dorado, Kansas. That is where she met an influential teacher, friend, and mentor Katie Banks-Todd. and was inspired to pursue a dream of being on Broadway.

“I was directed to Music Theater Wichita, and I am now part of the Teen choir and have been able to perform with Desi Oakley (actress in Waitress and Wicked on Broadway),” Ndirangu said. “But most important of all, now I get to be the new Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen 2022.”