Ranucci voted second runner-up at National Miss Teen North America pageant

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“My nerves were insane backstage,” Megan Ranucci admitted after competing in Sunday’s Miss Rhode Island Teen North American Pageant inside the Stadium Theater in Woonsocket. “The anticipation is the worst part; but once I’m on stage competing everything fades away and I have the time of my life.”

Once the Johnston High School junior did, in fact, take the historic stage, she turned in a performance that many people called “stunning and spectacular” in her run for the title and berth in the 2019 National Miss Teen North America Pageant that will be held in Florida this June.

Although a panel of judges selected Gianna Paul for the prestigious crown, Ranucci was voted second runner-up behind first runner-up and her friend Sofia LeDoux and impressed the judges, fellow contestants and audience.

Candidates were required to answer questions in eight different categories — awards and achievements, skills and talents, pageant past, hobbies/interests, a life experience that has been educational, family, what would winning the title mean to you and three words that best describe the candidate.

For Ranucci, she related, those words are, “Outgoing, friendly/empathetic and hard working,”

Perhaps her personal story spoke volumes about the talented JHS student-athlete-singer-dancer and community volunteer.

Ranucci spoke about her life experience that came while on a school trip to Washington, DC, and that stood steadfast in the judges minds because she related a conversation with a Holocaust survivor that took place outside the National Holocaust Museum in the nation’s capitol.

“He was an elderly man who told us about his time at concentration camps and how he lost his family in the camps. It really helped me connect what I learned in textbooks in real life,” she said. “It brought to life and gave me a deeper meaning because it showed the human side of history. To hear this man speak of what he survived and experienced as a child helped me realize the importance of never forgetting this time in history or the millions of victims the holocaust left behind.”

The candidates also competed in active wear as well as several phases of evening attire, most notably gowns and cocktail dresses.

In each category, Ranucci’s performances was stunning, and people commented on how she was “extraordinarily well dressed.”

Her color scheme coincided with that of Johnston High School – Columbia blue – and she wore a floor length evening gown designed by Lucci Lu as well as a royal blue cocktail dress for her opening number and personal introduction. Even her active wear was Panther Columbia blue.

So, Ranucci didn’t capture the crown of Miss Teen Rhode Island North America. She did, though, gain more valuable experience in a world where she wants to break the stereotype pageant girl.

“I used to think pageant girls were all about the looks before I ever competed,” she said. “It’s about the beauty within, physical appearance means nothing. Pageants are about women empowering women; that’s what I love about pageantry. You may not walk away with the crown, but you’ll walk away with friendships that last a lifetime. All of the girls I competed with are all such outstanding girls.”

So, what’s next for Megan Ranucci?

“I plan on talking with (School Principal Dennis) Morrell and (Assistant Principal Mike) Manceri about starting a ‘green team’ club to stress how important it is to recycle. Especially at lunch time; we have styrofoam food trays that are extremely harmful to our environment and I want to see if we can do something to change the trays or how we’re disposing of them.” she said.

The daughter of Melissa A Ranucci will also continue her winning ways in a number of other activities before entering her senior year at JHS then after graduation she plans to enroll at the University of Rhode Island and hopes to became a dermatologist in memory of her late aunt – Nadine M. Ricci – who lost her life after a battle with Melanoma cancer.

She’s an ambitious young woman who may not have captured the crown Sunday, but around Johnston – and Pantherland in particular – is known as “Miss Everything” for succeeding in of her young and fulfilling life.

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