Wyckoff Teen to Compete for Miss New Jersey Teen USA

A Wyckoff middle schooler has her eyes set on a title, a tiara, and a place to spread an anti-bullying message.

14-year-old Katie Hanson of Wyckoff will be competing for the title of Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2014, the pageant announced in a release this week.

The competition is happening October 18 through 20 at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany. According to the release, the pageant is the official preliminary to the Miss Teen USA pageant and is a Donald J. Trump and NBCUniversal joint venture.  The winner of the pageant will go on to represent New Jersey in the national 2014 Miss Teen USA pageant and spend her year as a teen ambassador.

Hanson attends Eisenhower Middle School and her hobbies include gymnastics, fashion and jewelry-making, the release said.

Her pageant platform is to empower and improve the self-confidence of young girls and help them stand up to and prevent bullying.

Hanson is being sponsored in the competition by her parents, Dianne and Matt Hanson, grandparents, Annette Macchia of Wayne, and James and Phyllis Hanson of Des Moines, Iowa, and many other family members and friends.