Miss Kansas, Courtney Wages, is a graduate of Wichita State University, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater. Courtney’s community service initiative is One Vision is Not the Only Vision: Eye See You. Her focus for this initiative is to address the hardships hindering the blind and visually impaired (BVI) community from clearly navigating their way through life.

Courtney has executed her initiative through innovative approaches and strategies. Over the past year, she presented her “Eye See You” Initiative which uses literacy to educate children on the importance of inclusion for the BVI community and how to prioritize vision care by eating healthy foods and exercising. To date, this specific arm of the initiative has reached over 900 students in grades K-5 across Kansas.

Miss Kansas travels throughout the state working closely with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, Kansas Department of Transportation, Lead For America, and Envision, Inc., providing education and advocating for the BVI community during her year as Miss Kansas.