(Radio Iowa) – A nine-year-old from Spencer is preparing for a year of travel around the state as Li’l Miss Iowa. Caitlyn Barr participated in the pageant last year and won it this year. “My favorite parts have been meeting new people and having fun and I decided to come back this year because I didn’t win and I wanted to have that experience again,” she says. The pageant encourages contestants to focus on volunteering and community involvement.

“I volunteered at ‘Kindness for Covid’…One thing we did is we sang outside the hospital for Christmas,” she says. “That was really fun. I got to meet some new kids and we went to a nursing home and made signs for them, like one said, ‘You are loved’ or ‘Get Well Soon’ or ‘You are the best’.” During the pageant, Barr was recognized for having the best interview with the judges for contestants in her age group. Barr, who is entering fourth grade this fall, says after high school she’d like to be an Olympic gymnast and a cheerleader at the University of Northern Iowa.

Caitlyn Barr

“Then I’d like to be a teacher or a police officer, but I really want to be the teacher,” she says. The Miss Iowa Youth Program started 28 years ago for girls between the ages of six and 12. A Li’l Miss Iowa and a Junior Miss Iowa are crowned each year at a pageant held in Muscatine.