The Little Miss Dorchester contest is an old and revered enough tradition for a grandmother to have passed along remembrances of it to her granddaughter, last year’s winner.

Georgia Hedderman, last year’s Little Miss Dorchester, recalled: “My Nana talked to me about how the contest is very old, and how some of her friends used to be Little Miss Dorchester.”

Each spring, about 30 girls ages 7 to 12 gather on a Saturday afternoon to compete in the Little Miss Dorchester (ages 7-9) and the newer Young Miss Dorchester contest for girls 10-12. This year’s contest will be held on Sat., May 14 at First Parish Church on Meetinghouse Hill. The deadline to enter the contest is May 6. (An application form can be dowloaded below.)

The contest is held in advance of June’s Dorchester Day celebration— always the first Sunday in June— during which residents celebrate their community with a parade and other activities. It’s a tradition that dates back to 1904.

The Little Miss Dorchester contest has been a part of those celebrations for more than 60 years; the Young Miss contest was added more recently to allow older girls to continue to participate.

The contests are not typical pageants; rather, they are an opportunity for local girls to speak out and celebrate their community. To enter each contest, a girl is required to write an essay response to a question that is decided by committee members of the contest. The responses are then read aloud to the judges and audience during the contest.

The contestants’ responses to the essay questions are a cornerstone of the event, and something that Annissa Essaibi-George, organizer of the Miss Dorchester contests, thinks teaches the girls a valuable life skill: public speaking.

“I recognize the real importance of stressing public speaking and giving young people an opportunity to speak in public. I find it a very empowering event for them,” said Annissa-Essaibi, who owns her own business, The Stitch House, and also serves as an at-large Boston city councillor.

Each contestant shares her essay response during the contest, giving the contestants a chance to speak in front of the judges and audience and voice their opinions.

“The contest is very much a celebration of girlhood and their opinions about the neighborhood … Some of the girls are shy, but they all have things to say,” explains Sonia Essaibi, Annissa’s sister, who held the Little Miss Dorchester in 1993.

Essaibi-George said the contest experience builds a link with earlier generations and helps to instill civic pride in the girls.

“It’s valuable for us as adults to create opportunities for young girls to participate in this way,” she said.

Hedderman said her favorite part of the contest was listening to everyone’s essays. Last year’s question asked contestants to describe their favorite place in Dorchester, and to say why it was their favorite.

“I wrote about the community center because everyone is welcome there,” Hedderman said.

The contest emphasizes each girl’s individuality and encourages the contestants to let their personality and different interests show.

“I feel like it’s great that my sister wants girls to write essays and wear whatever they want; for example, if a contestant likes softball, they’ll encourage her to wear her softball uniform,” Sonia Essaibi said.

The Little Miss Dorchester tradition has evolved through the years, but its purpose of inspiring young girls to take pride in themselves and their community has steadfastly stayed the same.

“The contest creates the ability for these girls to see the importance of community and belonging, and I hope they leave with a sense of pride in what they’ve accomplished,” Annissa Essaibi said.

To enter the contest, contestants must fill out an application and send it by mail to organizers by May 6. Application forms and instructions may be downloaded below.

Kendall Heward is an undergraduate student in the Northeastern University School of Journalism.