Her mother says she is “simply amazing,” and her peers view her as a leader.

Her name is Kelsey Anthony, a 17-year-old Northampton Area High School student. She is also the winner of the Miss Amazing Pageant in the Teen Division.

Miss Amazing is a yearly event that takes place in 30 states nationwide. Just this year, in April, Pennsylvania hosted its first Miss Amazing Pageant at Moravian College, Bethlehem. This is not your typical beauty pageant; instead, it is an opportunity for disabled girls and women to come together and build self-confidence while showcasing their beauty and talent.

“Miss Amazing helped Kelsey incorporate skills that she’ll need in the future, like interviewing,” said Cheryl Anthony, Kelsey’s mother.

Each participant begins with a short introduction of herself, and then she takes part in different events. Kelsey participated in the talent, evening wear and interview events.

“One of my favorite things in this world is dancing,” Kelsey said.

So suitably, for the talent event, Kelsey performed a dance routine to the song “Lights, Camera, Action” from the popular reality show “Dance Moms.” During her free time, Kelsey takes dance classes at 3D Dance in Northampton and recently performed in four recitals that involved her doing a total of 17 dances.

Just as strong as her love is for dancing, she equally loves Disney World.

“When I grow up, I want to be a Disney princess,” Kelsey said, adding she is particularly fond of Ariel and Belle.

Kelsey also enjoys cheerleading and plays on a Miracle League baseball team. At school, she is the basketball manager for the girls’ team and even earned a Manager of the Year title.

Later this month, she will travel to Chicago to compete in the National Miss Amazing Pageant. The event will be held June 30-July 4 at Hyatt Regency O’Hare.

The participants will, once again, unite to be “Queens Today, Leaders Tomorrow,” which is the slogan for the national pageant.

Kelsey and Cheryl agree they can see confidence gained from the first pageant, and they are looking forward to the upcoming pageant - and future pageants to come.

“Kelsey loves the stage and always goes above and beyond in everything that she does,” Cheryl said.

“I’m not nervous, only excited!” Kelsey said.