On March 14, Grace Stanke, Miss America 2023, spoke to members of Naperville Central’s Girls in Engineering, Math and Science Club. Stanke not only earned the Miss America title, she is also a nuclear engineer.

Stanke spoke to the club to educate members about the benefits of nuclear power, as well as sharing her journey. As well as working as a nuclear cycle manager, she is also writing a novel about the benefit of optimism, is pursuing a master’s degree in business administration and advocates for clean energy.

“It was a really cool experience, and it was interesting to learn about nuclear engineering,” said sophomore Ava Neben, a member of GEMS.

Stanke attended University of Wisconsin–Madison and majored in nuclear engineering. She is now employed by Constellation Energy.

Originally, Stanke used pageants to help showcase her violin skills and as a scholarship opportunity. After winning Miss America, she walked away with around $70,000 in scholarship money. 

“I stuck with it because I loved the other women I met,” Stanke said. “It was a place where it was cool to be successful, cool to be ambitious, cool to be kind.”

Her position with Constellation Energy also allows her to work as a clean energy advocate. Visiting GEMS was part of this job, and she has similarly visited places like Australia to advocate for clean energy.

“I thought it was really cool how much of the percentage of how much we use nuclear power and how much it actually produces,” Neben said. “It’s a lot more powerful than one would think.”