Miss Indiana's Teen advocating for epilepsy awareness with platform

GRANGER, Ind. -- A local teen takes the crown as Miss Indiana's Teen 2024! 

Bella Bauer is a recent Penn High School graduate, and not only did she win the competition, but she also got several awards to go with her crown and sash. 

Bella won the Preliminary Talent and Overall Dance Awards, tied for the Overall Interview Award, and was given the Prestigious Joy of Life Award for her work with an epilepsy awareness project she started, called The Purple Project. 

She also published her own book, The ABC's of Epilepsy, for patients going through epilepsy. She's currently finishing a second book for friends and family of those who have been diagnosed. 

Bella's 2-year-old sister, Mary Elizabeth, also has congenital heart defects. She's inspired Bella to encourage herself, her family and friends to be more heart healthy. 

She says one of her most important efforts though, is getting seizure safety school laws in place across the state. 

She says, "there's no law protecting children from being safe when they're having a seizure in school. Teachers and staff aren't required to be trained, and that's what I'm trying to get at. I wanna make sure that every kid is safe, because when I had my very first seizure at school, I remember it not being handled very well and that was really scary in general, and I want no other child to ever feel like that." 

As she gets ready to start her first semester of college at Purdue this fall, she's also gearing up for the Miss America's Teen competition in January.  

She says she'd love to take her aspirations of school seizure safety laws to a national level. 

For more information about The Purple Project, visit its website. 

You can also follow Bella on Instagram or Facebook to follow her journey!