PLAINFIELD – After the announcer called the regional title winner for Miss Iowa, Plainfield South junior Victoria Hir’s excitement grew. The next winner to be named at the pageant was Miss Illinois Junior Miss.

“For me, this was it,” Hir said. “Either you won this or you didn’t.”

Her name was called, and the hours she put in the classroom and out in the community were recognized.

Hir won the Miss Illinois America’s U.S. Miss pageant in the Junior Miss division for ages 16 through 18 last weekend in Davenport, Iowa.

In a pageant that honors a contestant’s speaking skills, community service track record and even grades, Hir stood out.

“It was a really fun experience to be honored for that,” Hir said. “I got to meet some new girls, made friends, and it was a really good experience just being able to go and win something.”

In school, Hir has a 4.0 GPA and is part of the Varsity Cougarettes Dance Team and Plainfield South Leadership Corps.

She also is involved in leadership at her church, Community Christian Church in Shorewood, and recently traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, to clean up a church.

What set Hir apart from other contestants is her community service, she said.

“I do a lot of community service,” Hir said, adding that she has more than 500 hours of community service. “I take the initiative for myself to do a project.”

In addition to cleaning up the Missouri church, Hir has donated to and helped organize several food and clothing drives to victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Hir is making quilts and will be delivering them to a local children’s hospital as part of her official duties as America Miss Illinois Junior Miss.

Hir said one reason she gravitates toward community service is because she was on the other end when she was younger.

“My little brother, when younger, was very sick,” Hir said. “People made dinner for us, they gave us meals. It meant a lot for me for them to do that.”

Hir’s goal is to get a degree in special education and become a teacher. She also aspires to open a dance studio for kids with physical or mental disabilities.

“She definitely knows what she wants,” said her mother, Joette Hir. “She is working to get a scholarship and money for college. She learned how to get up in front of a whole room of people and share her platform.”

Joette Hir said her daughter paid for her own entry fees and dress at pageants from Christmas and birthday money. Her daughter only enters “natural pageants,” or those that are age-appropriate with no swimsuit competition and not strictly based on beauty components.

“I’m so proud of her,” Joette Hir said. “She has worked so hard for this.”