I wish I could have seen the jaws of the handful of folks judging the Miss Arlington Teen pageant after Macie Krause left the room. I suspect that they were somewhere on the floor.
The rising senior at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts is one of those dancers who can connect movement and emotion, interpret the music’s often complex rhythms fluidly, and be agile, strong, and graceful.
That wasn’t why the jaws dropped, though.
She’s also one of those precocious outliers able to deliver well-structured answers to rapid-fire impromptu questions, whether it comes from a flurry of pageant judges trying to whittle down the contestant pool or a journalist wanting to know what drives her passion.
That wasn’t it, either.
It was the origin of Macie’s community service initiative, which has, over the years, become an integral part of the competition’s interview phase.
Distracted driving.
I know. It doesn’t sound all that weighty.
Until you consider the life of Katie Jo Vaughn.
Or, better yet, the death.
Like Macie, Katie was young and pretty, a talent with the gravitas to have won a pageant crown of her own. That’s how she and Macie bonded as friends.
The teen, along with two friends, were killed when Katie lost control of her vehicle while rounding a sharp curve on a rural road in Bowie County, which is in East Texas.
The car hit one of those concrete culverts, went airborne, and flipped
“They found the car upside down in the pond,” Macie told me.
Yet here’s the kicker that takes courage to discuss.
“Katie died in a distracted driving accident,” Macie said.
Ah, distracted driving. We all do it.
“My goal is to educate my peers who are
now of driving age about the dangers of distracted driving and how to keep themselves safe,” Macie said. 
As Miss Arlington Teen, she’s sharing her “Take 5 and Arrive Alive” Initiative on TikTok and Instagram by partnering with student organizations.
• Make phone use physically impossible.
• Allow a limited number of people in the car.
• Curfew restriction.
• Is your seat belt on properly?
• Explore directions before driving.
“I also plan to partner with online driver’s education companies, as I believe this topic is only briefly discussed in current training curriculums,” she said. “I want to remind teenagers that someone is waiting for them at home and the importance of “Take 5 and Arrive Alive.”
Hmm. It’s a challenging initiative. While adults are just as guilty of that, the audience she’s trying to reach is an elusive, head-strong bunch.
Of course, Macie knows that. She’s with them every day.
She’ll push the same initiative if she becomes Miss Texas Teen, Miss America Teen, or anything beyond that.
“Even if I don’t win any of those titles, I will still be passionate about implementing that initiative in my daily life,” she said. “I want to lead by example, whether I have a crown or not.”
I can’t imagine we won’t hear from Macie again. After Booker T., Macie, who has a 4.0 GPA and enough awards and honors to make you dizzy, wants to dance in college with an eye on Broadway. It makes perfect sense. Watching her move and interpret, embody, and execute her dances, you see a young performer perfecting a unique style of her own.
For Macie, this is what passion looks like.
She loves expressing herself through dance because, as she says, “You can connect to people on an emotional level. That’s when I feel I am at my highest point.”
Yet, with her initiative, that connection goes even deeper.
“A lot of my dances are dedicated to Katie,” Macie said. “I believe that my God-given gift is to share His word and love in dance. I feel that He gave me this special way of connection to share with others, and that is my purpose.”
Kenneth Perkins has been a contributing writer for Arlington Today for nearly a decade. He is a freelance writer, editor and photographer.
