Who will be the next to wear the crowns?

It’s time to polish those tiaras, because the 54th annual Miss Poway and Miss Teen Poway Scholarship Pageant is holding its first orientation meeting at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8.

The meeting will go from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be a second meeting on Sunday, Feb. 15 if you can’t make the first meeting. The orientation will last for about an hour, but Pageant Director Sharon Gruber will remain afterward to answer questions.

Both meetings will be held at Poway Community Park, 13094 Civic Center Drive in Poway.

The pageant is open to any girls ages 12 through 24 who attend a Poway Unified School District school or live in the 92064, 92127, 92128 and 92129 zip codes. It will be held on April 4 at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

Gruber said she hopes to continue the three age categories started last year, with Miss Junior Teen Poway being added to Miss Poway and Miss Teen Poway.

The change was prompted by the large amount of contestants last year, and by Gruber realizing that having the 13-year-olds and the 16-year-olds compete in the same category wasn’t fair. “It’s not beneficial to the younger girls to compete with the older girls,” said Gruber. “This levels the playing field.”

Last year’s winners were Miss Poway Kayla Hoppe, Miss Teen Poway Estephannia Colon and Miss Junior Teen Poway Carley Matz.

This year marks a change, as the pageant is no longer being sponsored by the Poway Lions Club. Instead, it is being sponsored by the Poway Kiwanis Club Foundation. “The Lions Club is fabulous, with wonderful men,” said Gruber.

Gruber, who recently joined the Poway Kiwanis Club, said she already knew many members of the Kiwanis Club from volunteering at past events with the pageant winners, and that the Kiwanis Club had expressed interest in sponsoring the pageant when she said she was looking for a new sponsor. “They were welcoming of me as a member, and welcoming to the pageant as a project,” she said.

This sponsorship change isn’t something new to the pageant, she said. In its 54-year history, the pageant has been sponsored by almost every club in Poway, including, at one point, the City of Poway itself, and the Poway Kiwanis Club.

Parents are strongly encouraged to attend the orientation meeting with their daughters.

Pageant contestants will spend eight weeks learning how to prepare for an interview, public speaking and poise as well as what is the appropriate attire for any occasion. There will be a professional photo shoot provided by Photography by Lisa K, a makeup seminar held at Nordstrom’s and a gown trunk show sponsored by Mia Bella Couture in Del Mar.

This year also the contestants will get a lesson in speech and presentation from a professional speaker.

“We try to teach the contestants skills that they will take into the next phase of their lives, resume writing, speech giving, proper attire for interviews and of course, community service and its importance,” said Gruber.

The contestants will also volunteer at a community event to understand what their year will be like if they win a spot on the 2015 court. The winners, in additional to scholarship money, will earn between 100 and 150 community service hours during their reign.

For more information, contact Gruber at misspoway@gmail.com.