Little girls dream of being princesses wearing big, bright shiny tiaras. Payton Mays of Cranston is a true-life crown winner.

Mays started school in kindergarten at Garden City Elementary before moving on to Western Hills Middle School, and is currently in her senior year at Cranston West.

Keeping herself busy during school days and weekends is not a problem for this young lady.

“I am one of the captains of the Falconette Dance Team, vice president of the Class of 2025, serve as co-chair of the Theater Board, a Falcon Student Ambassador, the CHSW Wrestling Team manager, National Honor Society vice president and the current Miss Rhode Island Teen,” she said.

Mays is a former Girl Scout and also acts as a greeter at PPAC.

The pageant world was foreign to her until recently.

“This was only my second time competing in a pageant. I competed for the title of Miss Rhode Island’s Teen for first time in 2021, as I was leaving eighth grade, and had so much fun. I always wanted to compete again, but scheduling conflicts always got in the way.

“However, this year’s competition happened to line up perfectly with my schedule, so I was finally able to walk across the Miss Rhode Island’s Teen stage once more. Although I only had a year under my belt, I knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish heading into pageant weekend and it ended up working in my favor.

“As a titleholder for the Miss Rhode Island Scholarship Organization, I will now go on to compete for the title of Miss America’s Teen with the Miss America Opportunity,” Payton said.

Initially, Mays was attracted to the Miss America Opportunity because of the scholarships that it is able to provide to young women throughout the country.

“As someone who is currently in the college application process, scholarships are essential when making decisions on where to apply. As a state titleholder, I received a Presidential Scholarship to the University of Alabama as well as various other institutions. I also received additional scholarship money as the recipient of the on-stage question award. Scholarship may have been the pillar of the Miss America Opportunity that initially drew me in, but it is the Service aspect that made me fall in love with the organization,” Mays said.

An early advocate for change

From a very young age she has always believed in youth advocacy, specifically for young girls and young women, and how they can make change in the world.

“The Miss America Opportunity gives thousands of girls throughout the country a platform to promote causes that they find important and are passionate about. Furthermore, I love how each of the causes girls choose to support are so unique and personal and reflect what is important to that girl. Out of the four pillars that make up the Miss America Opportunity, Scholarship and Service are the two that really motivated me to compete,” she said.

Her Community Service Initiative, or CSI, is Help for Heroes: Financial Relief for Families with Pediatric Cancer.

“I’ve crossed paths with three young women who have battled cancer diagnoses, my first introduction to the illness being my cousin. I was very young when she was diagnosed so I didn’t really understand what that meant at the time. As I have gotten older, I have learned the effects that it has had on her life. This is what prompted me to make my first donation to The Tomorrow Fund at Hasbro at 8 years old,” Mays said.

After two diagnoses of girls she knew during her freshman year, the cause hit close to home again, which is why she founded Cranston Kind, also known as Kindness Day, at West.

“Hosted through the Class of 2025, we sell purple t-shirts to raise money for the Tomorrow Fund. Over the past three years we’ve been able to raise over $4,500 as we’ve worked to expand the movement beyond West’s borders and bring it to East, as well as all four middle schools here in Cranston,” Mays said.

Cranston West principal: ‘She just gets things done’

John Fontaine, Principal at Cranston West, says he is very impressed with Payton not only as a student, but as a leader and a person.

“Payton does so much around the school that no one knows about. She just gets things done. She is a quiet leader. We are very lucky to have her,” Fontaine said.

It is her hope that as Kindness Day enters its fourth year, they will be able to bring it to all of the elementary schools for their biggest year yet.

“It was just one of those things that just took off. Non-technical viral event. It is part of the West fabric. It’s a tradition. I don’t see it going away,” said Fontaine.

“I think it’s really important to make classrooms aware of causes that affect the community we live in, while also teaching students how to support and uplift those around them. If you are a schoolteacher and would like to bring the message of kindness into your school, please reach out,” Mays offered.

She aspires to create

As for personal goals, Mays is aiming to earn her bachelor’s degree in creative writing to ultimately pursue her dream of being a scriptwriter and director.

“I think that storytelling is the key to connecting with audiences, as I believe that stories, both on the screen and/or on stage, have the ability to act as escapism for some, but can also hold a mirror to reality. I want to create the kind of stories that make people feel seen and represented by the media they are surrounded by,” she said.

Mays is generous with her gratitude and appreciation to everyone connected to her journey and life.

“The past few months with the title have been absolutely life changing, and I am so thankful to everyone who helped me get to this point and continue to support me on my journey. I want to say thank you to my family, the board of the Miss Rhode Island Scholarship Organization, the people of Cranston and the Cranston High School West community, as well as the hundreds of Rhode Islanders I’ve been able to meet, learn about and impact so far during my year of service. I would not be where I am today without your endless support to help me on my journey to Miss America’s Teen, and beyond,” she said.

Mays is preparing for the Miss America’s Teen Competition to be hosted this winter in Orlando, with the winner to be crowned on Jan. 4.

“I am extremely excited to represent not only Rhode Island, but my city and school on a national stage,” she said.

HOW TO HELP

If you would like to help support her journey and learn more information about the Miss Rhode Island Scholarship Organization, visit her Facebook and Instagram pages@missamericasteenri.