Miss Michigan 2019 Mallory Rivard will reign for another year after pageant canceled

BAY CITY, MI – Mallory Rivard has a busy year coming up, since she works as a first-grade teacher by day and is graduate student by night – and now, Miss Michigan 2020 on the weekends.

The 2019 Miss Michigan will take on her duties as the state ambassador for another year after the 2020 pageant was canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. After the contest’s cancellation, event organizers turned to Rivard, 25, to ask if she would wear the crown for another year.

Rivard, of Bay City, was crowned Miss Michigan 2019 at the 69th annual pageant June 15, 2019, at Muskegon’s Frauenthal Center, a crowning moment that was seven years in the making.

While she’s thrilled to continue her literacy campaign for another year, Rivard said she put a lot of thought into her decision to wear the crown for another year. She had originally anticipated finishing her master’s degree at Saginaw Valley State University, which she put on hold for the past year to take on her Miss Michigan duties.

However, she said the Miss Michigan organization has been extremely accommodating in letting her go back to graduate school in the fall.

“I will be a full-time educator during the day, and then full-time student at night, and then full-time Miss Michigan on the weekend doing my duties,” she told MLive in a May 29 interview.

But Rivard said her time as Miss Michigan 2019 has helped her learn how to manage her time well, which will help with all her duties in the upcoming year.

A first-grade teacher at Bay City Public Schools, Rivard was the first Miss Michigan winner to hold a full-time job during her reign. Through her Read to Succeed campaign, she focused on giving schools the tools and resources they needed to ensure student success in the classroom.

RELATED: Miss Michigan 2019 hopes to combat literacy issues during her reign

Rivard worked closely with the Michigan Department of Education over the past year on the communication committee for Read by Grade 3, a law that requires third-graders to repeat third grade if they are more than one grade level behind beginning with the 2019-20 school year.

“As a first-grade public school teacher, it’s really important for me that all children in the state of Michigan have the same opportunity to learn,” she said. “I worked really hard on getting books into the hands of students."

She worked to place free “little libraries” in Michigan’s book deserts, where local libraries have closed down, and replenishes them weekly so children have access to free books.

The coronavirus has been especially difficult for Rivard, who has been missing out on seeing her students face-to-face since Michigan school buildings were closed March 16 to maintain social distancing during the pandemic.

“It’s definitely been challenging because I work at a priority school, so not all of my students have devices at home,” she said. “So that was a big struggle, getting children connected and then additionally supporting them and their families through these difficult times instead of having face-to-face instruction and giving them hugs and whatnot.”

Rivard said her experience being a teacher during a pandemic is something that will affect her literacy campaign for the upcoming year as she works toward advocating for children to have equal access to education.

“There is nothing that can replace a child being in the classroom and learning face-to-face,” she said. “As a public educator, I’m definitely an advocate for that and I think legislators should be looking at that moving forward with future budget talks.”

Although her reign may look a lot different in 2020 than it did last year due to social distancing restrictions – she definitely won’t be doing any parades any time soon – Rivard said her duties will primarily focus on being the face of the Miss Michigan organization.

“A lot of it might be being a positive light to the organization and sharing our message of, ‘We’re one of the largest scholarship providers for women in the world, and that we help young women become successful and professional women that they want to be,’" she said.

Along with her title and crown, Rivard won $12,500 in scholarship money in last year’s competition. She’s earned a total of $40,000 in scholarships through the Miss Michigan organization, which has allowed her to graduate with her bachelor’s degree debt free.

The 2020 Miss Michigan pageant, which also was to be held in Muskegon’s Frauenthal Theater, was canceled May 8 shortly after this year’s Miss America competition was canceled due to the coronavirus crisis.

RELATED: Miss Michigan 2020 canceled due to coronavirus pandemic

The statewide competition will not host any local pageants in the upcoming year, Miss Michigan Director Paula DeWall told MLive. All contestants currently holding local titles who were scheduled to compete in this summer’s competition will be allowed to participate in the 2021 pageant.

The Miss Michigan 2021 pageant is scheduled for June 13-19.

The annual competition brings dozens of contestants to Muskegon for one week every summer for rehearsals and community engagement, and then the pageant.

RELATED: See the best visuals, biggest winners from Miss Michigan 2019

For the first time last year, the Miss Michigan pageant did not include a swimsuit competition after it was removed from the national Miss America pageant in 2018.

In its place, the candidates performed an un-judged fitness routine. Additions included more on-stage questions and a social impact statement during the evening wear portion.

The Miss America pageant began as a “bathing beauties revue” in 1921 with women in swimsuits as the focus. The new program is intended to focus more on contestants’ interview skills rather than their appearance.

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