Having a platform is more important to Nikki Starks Black than pageantry, which is why she agreed to be a last-minute entry in the Mrs. Arizona International competition.
On May 7, the Maricopa teacher and mother of two won the title.
“It’s pretty amazing,” said Black, a teacher at Camino Montessori.
Black’s best friend is Kara Washington. Last year, Washington was Mrs. Arizona International.
When one of this year’s contestants dropped out a week before the competition, Washington called Black.
Black said she had never participated in a pageant before. The format of the Mrs. Arizona International competition was her selling point for participating.
“This one is platform-based, so immediately I said I’m passionate about teaching and children and why not try to use this platform to start talking about those issues and helping in any way I can,” she said.
The competition was judged 50 percent on interview, 25 percent on fitness and 25 percent on evening gown. Black said she wasn’t terribly nervous about the process because she had watched Washington through the pageant last year. Both Washington and pageant director Monique Wilhite gave her tips to mentally prepare.
“With all this support around me, within a week, I competed and I won,” she said. Black won the fitness portion as well as the interview.
Her husband Dion was given the crowning duties at the pageant, held at Halle Heart Museum. Their daughter Isis is 8 and son Dion is 6.
They moved to Maricopa from “deep Mesa” in 2009 when Nikki was pregnant with Isis. She started as an assistant at Camino Montessori two years ago and was a co-teacher this year. Next year, she gets her own classroom as a “lower elementary” teacher.
“We’re excited for her,” said Camino Montessori Director Judy Webster.
Black said she wants to build a coalition of veteran teachers who want to share ideas and help new teachers or just have “a different way to handle something going on in the classroom.”
She said she received that as a Montessori teacher, but others do not, so she would like to give all that same opportunity for support and resources.
“I don’t mind getting out there and speaking about it,” Black said.
She next goes for the Mrs. International title in Jacksonville, Florida, on July 22-23.
This story appeared in the June issue of InMaricopa.
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