Seventeen year-old Dartmouth High senior Alyssa Maitoza recently traveled to Orlando, Fla. to represent Massachusetts at the twelfth annual Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Scholarship Pageant.

At the pageant, Maitoza performed an energetic tap dance routine to “Fabulous Feet” from the Broadway Musical The Tap Dance Kid. Choreographed by former Miss Massachusetts 2013 Amanda Narciso of Taunton, the routine showcased the 14 years of dance training she has had at the Cheryl McCormack Academy of Dance in New Bedford. She is also a member of the competition dance team at the CMAD. She regularly performs in musical theatre productions at Dartmouth High School and other community theatre groups and is also an accomplished vocalist. On August 20, she will perform the National Anthem at a New England Revolution match at Gillette Stadium.

At the national pageant, Maitoza was awarded two additional scholarships for her talent. She received a $500 scholarship as one of two Outstanding Dancers in the competition and another $500 scholarship as a Non Finalist Talent Award winner. Her total in scholarship awards was $2000, in addition to the $1000 she won at the Miss Massachusetts’ Outstanding Teen Pageant last spring. As a national finalist, Maitoza is also eligible for additional scholarship opportunities awarded to the 51 contestants each year from the 12 partner universities who will make available over $33 million in tuition assistance to the young women who competed at this year's competition in Orlando.

For the rest of her year of service, Maitoza will continue to use her title as Miss Massachusetts’ Outstanding Teen to spread awareness through her platform entitled The Arts in Action, devoted to educating individuals of all ages about the benefits of the arts in schools. Maitoza is the daughter of Ray and Jodie Maitoza of Dartmouth. After graduation, she plans to attend college where she will double major in Musical Theatre and English/Communications. Her career ambition is to become a certified music therapist and perform on Broadway.

At the finals on August 6, Nicole Jia of Oklahoma was crowned Miss America’s Outstanding Teen 2017.