This year’s Miss California’s Teen will head to Orlando, Florida, just after Christmas for her chance to bring the title Miss America’s Teen to her hometown of Visalia.

The national competition, which will showcase Keira Bixler’s passion for literacy and dance, is the latest leg of a journey that started at eight years old.

She was crowned Miss California’s Teen in June.

“I have had so many incredible opportunities that have led to me now being at (UC) Berkeley, raising $70,000 for my work in literacy, and so much more,” Bixler said. “It’s going to be such a cool new step in this journey to get to grace that stage.”

Bixler Bringing a Love of Literacy to Orlando

The 10-day Miss America’s Teen competition begins Dec. 31. The 18-year-old Bixler will compete against 50 other contestants — including one from Puerto Rico — displaying her talents, fitness, and poise.

Bixler said her work in literacy will set her apart during the competition. Some of her earliest memories come from when her parents read to her at night.

It wasn’t long, however, before she found out that there are children who don’t have books at home.

Her children’s book, “Imagine with Keira,” talks about that discovery.

“And so I wanted to work with adults to change that,” Bixler said. “My favorite part of the book is that, of course, it talks about the importance of literacy, but it also shows young children that if they see a problem in the world, they have the power to do something about it.”

That year, she asked that in lieu of gifts, books be given to the Kaweah Health Pediatric Library, doubling the size of their library, she said.

She’s worked with United Way of Tulare County, Adventist Health, First 5 Tulare County, and Imagine U Children’s Museum, which hosted the party Sunday evening for Bixler’s send-off.

In the past couple years, she’s raised $70,000 to distribute 10,000 copies of her book, printing it in Spanish and English. Through a partnership with Read for Life, she’s collected 25,000 books for kids in Tulare County.

Bixler’s Passion for Politics Will Play into Interview Portion of Contest

Bixler has been involved in pageants since she was crowned Miss Tulare County Princess at the age of eight. Following that, she became Miss Tulare County’s Teen, Miss Yosemite Valley’s Teen, and Miss Fresno County’s Teen.

She’ll do a jazz en pointe dance routine for the talent portion of the event.

Now a freshman at UC Berkeley, Bixler double majors in economics and media studies. She plans to eventually attend law school. She hopes her love of politics and current events will play into the interview portion of the competition, which constitutes 30% of the total score.

But she says that knowing yourself and being comfortable on stage play a bigger role than anything else.

“We study up on current events, we know ourselves, we know our communities and our states. That’s really what prepares us for that phase of competition,” Bixler said.

The title, Miss America’s Teen, comes with a $60,000 scholarship, which she said would go a long way toward her schooling.

“I have been so incredibly blessed to have a community around me who has supported me in this journey,” Bixler said. “And I am so excited to bring everything they’ve taught me on to that stage.”