After being named the second runner-up last year, Kelly Koch (pronounced “Cook”), is now reigning as the new Miss Iowa. Koch is a 20-year-old from the Des Moines suburb of Waukee. She was crowned last weekend and is now starting her victory lap of Iowa.

Kelly Koch, Miss Iowa 2016

Koch says “I am still in shock that I am the new Miss Iowa 2016 and I wake up every morning still shocked. It’s been great and I just want to make everyone proud.” Her platform is the “Pinky Swear” Foundation. She said the concept came from a young boy who was fighting cancer who used his money to aid other families fighting cancer and made his dad “pinky swear” to continue the effort. She learned about it during last year’s Miss Iowa Pageant during a trip to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Koch is preparing to be in the national spotlight in September.

She says she “Will be on the Miss America stage in less than three months. That is scary but exciting,” and Koch says she hopes that she can make her fellow Iowans proud. Among the prizes Koch received upon becoming Miss Iowa is a $10,000 scholarship she’ll use when she returns to Iowa State University next year. She plans to become a child life specialist, helping children fighting cancer and their families while in the hospital.

(Radio Iowa)