When Jackie Giest was about 8 years old, her parents took her and her sisters to see “The Nutcracker” during Christmas time. Giest sat on the edge of her seat and barely blinked an eye throughout the whole performance.

After that, it was apparent what Giest wished to do. For her, dance was the be all and end all.

“She hung up her soccer cleats and put on her ballet slippers,” Susanne Giest said.

The Miss America Pageant doesn’t necessarily conjure up images of little girls wearing tool belts and kicking goals past an all-boys team.

“Growing up, I was a massive tomboy,” the recently crowned Miss Hollywood said. “I was on boy’s school sports teams and played soccer.”

It was hard for Giest to have anything but sports and carpentry on her mind.

“I still have a little toolbox with her name engraved on it,” Susanne Giest said. “She was on the side of the house nailing wood together every second she could find.”

Jackie went on to star in “The Nutcracker” as a child, Susanne Giest said.

Jackie’s mother went into detail of the importance of dance to her little girl.

“In high school, I can’t even tell you how many hours Jackie spent at the dance studio,” Susanne Giest said. “Her father and I wondered what she could possibly be doing for that long but when we saw her perform we were always blown away.”

Jackie Giest admitted she almost lived at the studio.

Although she is quiet, even reserved in person, the moment she walks on stage that shield disappears and a different person emerges.

“She is just such a beautiful person on the inside and with her dancing Jackie is able to express her feelings and her emotions,” Susanne Giest said. “In person she is shy, when you put her on stage she isn’t.”

Giest’s pageant director, Ernie Koneck, went on further regarding her talents on stage.

“Part of her appeal as a dancer is that she has a lot of classical training and a strong presence on stage,” Koneck said.

The pageant competition itself isn’t just a swimsuit competition, but instead an opportunity for young women to receive scholarships for school. Scholarships are one of the main reasons Giest competes in these events.

“Scholarship money is why I am here at Sacramento State,” Giest said.

Susanne supports her daughter’s involvement in pageants.

“Pageantry is not what everybody thinks. I am very supportive because of the things it has taught her,” Susanne Giest said. “Jackie can walk into a room full of strangers and pick up a conversation with just about everybody.”

Giest is on the road to winning the title of Miss America 2009 if things go as planned. First, Giest won the Miss Hollywood competition in late December, a competition that is just one of 45 to 50 local pageants, Koneck said.

Next, Giest will compete to be Miss California in June. Each state holds a competition that yields a winner, Koneck said. Those winners go on to battle it out for Miss America in January 2009, Koneck said.

Jackie’s mother believes she has what it takes to win.

“Jackie as a contestant is strong,” Koneck said. “What we’re working on for the Miss California pageant is a different piece than she’s ever done.”

For Giest’s talent portion of the pageant, she will be performing “The Swan” from “Carnival of the Animals.”

“When I saw her original piece for Miss Hollywood, it inspired me,” Koneck said. “This piece is 100 years old and was designed for Anna Pavlova, a famous ballerina. The piece lived on and on.”

Giest’s portrayal is emotional and inspiring, Koneck said. The most important aspect of a talent piece is its entertainment value and emotional concern, Koneck said.

Giest started in ballet as a child and moved up quickly. After six months, Giest was promoted to ‘point,’ meaning she was ready to dance wearing the traditional ballet slippers with small blocks to ‘tip-toe’ on across the dance floor.

Giest realized after auditioning for a few professional companies that few prima ballerinas succeeded, and decided to move the pastime to a ‘stress relief’ activity and her talent for the pageants.

“I love performing. Ballet is my time, my release,” Giest said.

Pageants became more important after winning the 2003 title of Miss Teen California, where she competed against and beat her best friend. Luckily, dancing is still a part of her life with the talent portion of her competitions.

Besides dance, Giest carries a strong interest in finances. She is a sophomore majoring in business finance.

“I either want to double major with economics or take it as a minor to business finance,” Giest said. “One day, I want to be a financial planner.”

Her “platform” issue, or important worldly concern for the competition, is financial planning and saving for the future.

“Teaching young people the importance of saving is a timely and interesting platform,” Koneck said. “It resonates and teaches people the importance of saving at a young age and being financially literate.”

Contestants like Giest may change what people think about beauty pageants.

“I consider this a national platform for smart, educated women to win scholarship money and promote personal goals and values,” Giest said.

Ultimately, these competitions are encouraging women to have higher goals, values and better educations.

“The words style, success, service and scholarship sit atop the four points of the crown,” Giest said. “They’re the best words to sum up the pageant.”

Briana Monasky can be reached at [email protected]