CEDAR CITY — Keairra Clarke will compete as Mrs. Iron County in the upcoming Mrs. Utah America Pageant, and she’s encouraging community members to “disconnect to connect” as part of her participation.
Clarke is originally from St. George, and she moved to Cedar City three years ago with her husband to be closer to family while they raise their daughter, who is 2 years old. She participated in dance and performing groups in high school and while attending Dixie State University.
Clarke told Cedar City News she chose to participate in the pageant as a way to challenge herself.
“I’m a really motivated individual, and I like to do things that help me grow and progress,” she said. “I thought this would be a good one to get out of my comfort zone and to meet people in our community and to grow.”
Competing for Mrs. Utah involves an opening number, swimwear and evening gown events, an interview with judges and a platform. Clarke’s platform is encouraging community members to disconnect with technology in order to better connect with the people around them.
“I am trying my best to get my platform out to the community and to get our community involved in doing activities that would help us disconnect from our technology,” she said.
Clarke said the idea for her platform came from her own experiences with technology.
“We’re looking at our screens and we’re not with the people around us,” she said. “I think it’s a great platform that every single person can benefit from — even my 2-year-old daughter. She loves to play on my phone but sometimes it’s better to read a book.”
Clarke added that she feels people get lost in their phones.
“We spend countless hours mindlessly scrolling and wasting our time when we could be engaging in other activities that we could benefit from,” she said. “When we take part in noticing and serving the people around us, it boosts our feelings of happiness and kindness towards each other.”
She said she also wants to encourage the community to break away from the idea that a person’s value is related to social media.
“Social media has engraved in us that our value comes through how many likes we get on a post,” she said. “I hope that by helping others realize the importance of living life and not living life through a screen will help them become happier and know their worth doesn’t come from how many followers they have.”
Clarke has a weekly challenge related to social media to help with this part of her platform. She will also host a children’s storytime session with her sponsor, State Bank of Southern Utah, and other events throughout February.
Event details
- What: Children’s ABC Storytime and Craft.
- When: Wednesday, Feb. 19, 10 a.m.
- Where: Cedar City Library, 303 N. 100 East #2610.
- Admission: Free.
- For more information, find Mrs. Iron County on Instagram @thestorieofus.
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