The Southington Observer

Mrs. Connecticut is off and running

Pageant winner juggles career at Strong with her other duties
By ROB GLIDDEN
STAFF WRITER

www.SouthingtonObserver.com
http://www.southingtonobserver.com/05_29_09/04.pdf

Mrs. Connecticut Jessica Bruenn
“You can do a lot through pageantry. It’s like your own soapbox.”

This Saturday’s “Kids Marathon” event will attract students from
seven state schools to the track at Southington High School, giving newly minted
Mrs. Connecticut Jessica Bruenn another chance to draw attention to her goal of helping kids
stay in shape. Bruenn, a fifth-grade teacher at Strong Elementary School, will attend, along with members of her school’s running club, which she created. The “Kids Marathon” is a national fitness initiative that challenges students to run the equivalent of a 26.2-mile marathon over time (not all at once), keeping notes on their progress in a “runner’s log.”Bruenn said this event
and other similar activities had the potential to keep kids off the couch and staying active.
“I don’t want kids to just say ‘I need to exercise,’” she said. “The ideais to get them saying ‘I
want to run around and play tag.’”

Unlike the “Miss America” or “Miss USA”pageants, which are primarily
full of college-age women, The “Mrs.America” competition is focused on married
women with steady careers. It began in 1978 and the final competition is televised annually.
Another unique element of the Mrs. America competition is that there was no local contest to
win beforehand. Bruenn was able to walk into the recent Mrs. Connecticut competition
in Bedford, MA, impress the judges, and walk out with the crown. Though she had been
in some pageants years
ago, Bruenn said she got back into the competitions for the chance to spread her message.
“You can do a lot through pageantry. It’s like your own soapbox,”Bruenn said. “Right now,
the CDC [Center for Disease Control] says 1out of 3 kids are obese. That alone tells you something needs to be done. We need to be screaming out this.”Her new title has
already brought much more attention to her classroom, which she said the kids have enjoyed.
She recalled one incident where one of students asked another teacher, “Do you know
who this is? She won Mrs. Connecticut!” Staff members at the school also seem
impressed, and have various memorabilia aboutBruenn’s pageant victory on a whiteboard in central office. “I’m very excited she’s taken the initiative to develop a physical fitness
club for Strong,” said Principal Linda Lackner. “Her energy and enthusiasm has been transferred to the students and now they’re happy to run on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
The end of the school year will give Bruenn the chance to devote more time and energy to various events, including the national competition in July. For now, she said she’s
still getting the hang of balancing her new obligations with work in the classroom.
“It’s a shock,” Bruenn said. “I haven’t been able to breathe.”

The Kids Marathon
event begins this Saturday
at 9:30 am, at Southington
High School’s track.