Two sisters, One crown

What started on a whim has turned into a journey for two sisters who graduated from St. Ignatius High School.

Alyssa Schock and her sister Jaci Agustin have both been crowned as Mrs. Montana and Mrs. Hawaii, respectively, which means the two women will go on to compete against each other in the Mrs. America pageant in Tucson, Ariz. August 28, a first in the history of the pageant.  

The women grew up moving between Montana and Hawaii. Schock said she and Agustin were talking about pageants when Agustin was visiting and wished they had participated in one when they were younger.  With a bit of research and the help of Google, the women found the Mrs. America contest.  Schock completed the paperwork and when Agustin returned home, she turned hers in as well.

Then they called in the expert, Jack James.  James was the executive director of the Mrs. Hawaii pageant until 1996. Since he has retired, he coaches young women in pageants from what to wear to how to answer interview questions.  

But he only does it when he chooses to, and he’s picky about whom he coaches. James said he knew Agustin from their church and agreed to help her and Schock as soon as they asked. He said they are great moms, spouses and both have a strong faith in God.

“They are just good examples of women today. In this case, married women,” James said.

Schock won her title July 14 in Billings and will hold the title of Mrs. Montana for the next year.  The pageant is much like the Miss Montana pageant, except in this competition the women are older, married and in most cases more accomplished than the Miss Montana contestants. Schock, who works in the physical therapy department at St. Luke Community Hospital, won with her platform of helping people to make healthy lifestyle choices to improve their overall health.

Schock was speaking from personal experience. She battles with Lupus and Rheumatoid arthritis, both diseases that currently have no cure.  She said once she began to eat well and exercise she noticed a difference in her overall health and could take less medication.  Schock said other patients with chronic diseases like heart disease and high cholesterol could potentially stop needing medication all together if they made better choices.

She said many people don’t know how to make these lifestyle choices, and she wants to fix that.  

“People don’t know what to do. Their doctors give them a diagnosis and send them out the door,” Schock said.

She hopes to use her title as a way to relate to people outside of the hospital. She made several appearances at the St. Ignatius Good Old Days Celebration, one of which she was helping to facilitate the annual Buffalo Run.

“Good health increases morale,” Schock said, adding that the good morale then spreads throughout the community.

Schock said she feels honored to be going to the Mrs. America pageant in August and she knows the pageant will be hard to win.

“They are all talented, beautiful and passionate about what they are doing,” she said about the other competitors.

Among the competitiors is Schock’s sister, Jaci Agustin.

Agustin’s pageant was in May of this year.  She won with her platform of “Healthy Nutrition for All,” focusing on getting nutritious food to low-income families in Honolulu, Hawaii.  

Agustin works as a program coordinator for the YMCA where she helps to get low-income populations access to and education about healthy foods.  It was during her work in education that she realized the need in her community.

She has been influential, going so far as testifying in front of the Honolulu City Council, in getting EBT readers into local farmer’s markets.  

Agustin hopes her title as Mrs. Hawaii will help to highlight the work she does, and bring attention to the issue the low-income community is facing.

“I don’t want to just feed them,” she said. “But give them access and the knowledge to choose healthy food.”

Agustin said it was she and Schock’s goal to compete in a pageant together.  For her and her sister to represent the two states they grew up in is an honor, Agustin said.  She said they have proven to themselves and others that one can overcome hardships, come out on top and more importantly, that moments of weakness don’t define who you are.

The national Mrs. America contest will be televised on August 28. The winner of the pageant will go on to compete in the Mrs. World competition, which will be held in China this year.