The 2021 Miss Iowa visited with children in Washington as part of her social impact initiative Tuesday.

The Washington Public Library welcomed Grace Lynn Keller to read her favorite children’s book “More Pies!” to children at the Central Park bandstand, which was followed by a game of Simon Says and a question and answer session. Keller informed the kids that she is not actual royalty, but why she decided to compete for the state title, “So Miss Iowa is part of the larger national organization, the Miss America organization and they are the largest scholarship provider to women in the United States. And I just finished college and so I wanted some scholarship money to help pay for college. So that’s why I decided to compete and this is actually my first time competing for Miss Iowa, so I didn’t really think I was going to win. I just wanted to go have fun and maybe get some scholarship money, but I ended up winning so now I get to be Miss Iowa and go on this year of service for the state.”

Keller is spending the next year promoting literacy in kindergarten through third grades. An Illinois native, Keller graduated from the University of Iowa this spring, and will be competing in the Miss America competition this December.