Spokane teacher heads to national pageant as Mrs. Washington

Spokane women did well in the Mrs. Washington Pageant in Olympia this past weekend.

Amy Clark, the reigning Mrs. Spokane County, was crowned Mrs. Washington. She’ll compete in the Mrs. America pageant in August in Tucson, Ariz.

“I was second runner-up last year and I decided I just wanted to try one more time,” said Clark, who’s a music teacher at Hutton Elementary School.

Over the past year, Clark said she had worked on expanding her platform of community work, which includes being on the board of Goodwill’s Mentoring After School Program for Success.

Students at Hutton Elementary School didn’t know she was competing to become Mrs. Washington, but they found out as Clark did little show-and-tells at the beginning of this week.

“My students were very excited. I’ve gotten lots of congratulations and hugs,” Clark said. “And they really like my crown. So far that’s been the biggest hit.”

She’s looking forward to her trip to Tucson next year.

“Half the score is based on interviews, so I’ll be doing a lot of mock interviews until then,” Clark said, “and keeping up my physical fitness of course.”

Stacy Benoscek, the reigning Mrs. Spokane Valley, was crowned businesswoman of the year.

“I was so thrilled to win that award. The work I do with fitness and aging was the whole reason why I signed up,” said Benoscek, who works as a personal trainer helping people stay fit as they age. “We live longer than we used to and medical science is not enough to keep you alive. Some of my clients are in their 90s.”

Mrs. Mead, Desiree Lancaster, was crowned married woman of the year based on her work with victims of domestic violence.

“Women from Spokane took three of the five top awards,” Benoscek said. “I thought that said a lot about our little area here, and the values of our community.”