Three Dartmouth women hope to secure the top spot in this year’s Miss New Bedford Pageant with their messages of tolerance, healthy living, and creative awareness.

The competition, slated for September 30, will include eight women competing for the title of Miss New Bedford. Among them are three Dartmouth residents – Beatriz Ribeiro, Alyssa Maitoza, and Kenzie Moniz.

"I've done two pageants before," Ribeiro, a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth photography major, said. “I did Miss New Bedford last year and Miss Fall River, so this will be my third [pageant.]"

Although she’s never placed in a pageant, Ribeiro won a swimsuit award, as well as a committee award to recognize her improvement throughout the rehearsal process.

Each Miss New Bedford contestant had to decide on a platform with a message to work towards spreading. Ribeiro calls hers "Stay Strong, Live Long," with a focus on health and wellness. Riberio has worked at a gym in Dartmouth for the past four years, so fitness and nutrition has become a passion of hers.

"If I am crowned, I would love to partner with programs such as the United Way and Clean Eats," Ribeiro said.

Like Ribeiro, Alyssa Maitoza is not new to the pageant scene. She has held many pageant titles, including Miss Bristol County's Outstanding Teen, Miss New Bedford Outstanding Teen, and Miss Massachusetts Outstanding Teen.

"I started competing in pageants when I was 13," Maitoza said. "I wanted to gain more experience on stage to improve as a singer and dancer and to improve on my public speaking."

Maitoza has won over $5,000 worth of scholarship money to put towards her college education. The recent Dartmouth High graduate started her first year at Rhode Island College in September to study musical theatre.

Her platform for the pageant stems from her college major and her passion for the arts. Titled “Arts in Action,” she hopes to show how the arts can make a difference and encourage the promotion of the arts in education.

Maitoza grew up attending Dartmouth schools and participated in plays, musicals, band, chorus, drama club, and was also the secretary of the A Capella Club, as well as the vice president of the Theatre Company at Dartmouth High School.

"If I'm crowned Miss New Bedford, I'll work to make sure the elementary, middle, and high school kids have the ability to explore the arts both at school and in their community," Maitoza said. "I would love to give kids an outlet to express themselves."

She also hopes to start after school clubs to teach dance, play theatre games, or help students put on a show.

Unlike her competitors, Kenzie Moniz’s quest for the Miss New Bedford title began in her senior year at Dartmouth High School. Inspired by a friend four years ago who was named Miss Massachusetts Outstanding Teen, she managed to place in the top five in a competition that year, and in the past two years was the second runner up in two pageants.

"Each year my passion for attaining the title only grows more and more," Moniz said. "I keep learning more about myself and the ways I can help the community around me. "

She hopes to fundraise and host events in Dartmouth for her platform, titled “Teaching Tolerance: Promoting the Importance of Literature.”

Currently a senior studying secondary education and English at Lesley University, Moniz has a passion for promoting literature in the schools. If she wins Miss New Bedford, she would like to start a book club or after school reading program.

"I just want to be a part of something bigger than myself in a way that allows me to connect others to the community and the world around them," Moniz said.

The Miss New Bedford Scholarship Program emphasizes community involvement and making lasting friendships. For Dartmouth’s competitors, that meant foraging lifelong friendships with contestants and the wider community.

"I never realized I would come out with a group of friends I can call my sisters," Ribeiro said. "I originally started to do pageants for scholarship money, but I came to realize it was much more than that."

Maitoza, Riberio, and Moniz will be competing on September 30, along with five other contestants for the Miss New Bedford crown. More than $6,500 in scholarship money is also up for grabs.