Giving Back

Lexi Openshaw

Miss Jefferson County 2017
Platform: Cyberbullying

Lexi Openshaw had her first experience with cyberbullying when she was 13 years old. Someone took the photos and information from Openshaw’s Facebook page and posted it on a website called My Yearbook. Then, that person began writing negative things.

“They made me out to be a person who was rude and conceited, somebody who I wasn’t,” Openshaw said. “I was really sad that someone would do that.”

Instead of getting depressed about the situation, Openshaw decided to work to change it. Then a contestant in a teen pageant, Openshaw chose to make putting an end to cyberbullying her platform.

Today, she holds the title of Miss Jefferson County and continues to educate others about preventing cyberbullying. According to Openshaw, her audiences have gotten younger as technology plays an increasing role in the lives of school-aged children.

“I’ve mostly spoken to fifth graders because they’re making that tough middle-school transition, but I’ve also had to go into first-grade classrooms and speak to kids because they’re already getting introduced to the issue of cyberbullying,” Openshaw said. “In elementary schools, kids are already having to deal with it pretty badly.”

Openshaw’s wealth of pageant experience has provided her with numerous opportunities, but her favorite moments have taken place during these school visits.

“After I give my presentation to let the kids know what cyberbullying is and how they can stop it, I have dozens of kids raise their hands and tell me the experiences that they’ve had,” Openshaw said. “If I can
help them stop it once, then I know that I’m making a difference. And that’s what matters.”

At the end of her pageant career, Openshaw still sees herself in the classroom. A sophomore elementary education major, she aspires to teach either kindergarten or first grade.

“My teachers were always so helpful in guiding me in the right direction, not only with schoolwork, but with anything that was going on in my life,” Openshaw said. “I want to be the same way for other kids when I’m a teacher, just to help them grow.”

Openshaw competed for the title of Miss West Virginia in June 2017, and she hopes to continue participating in pageants in the future.

“Once I dove into pageants, I really realized that the crown, the sash is not that important at the end of the day,” she said. “It’s what you do with it during your year and the people who you get to touch.”