La Salle Prep, Nelson High School students vie for Rose Festival

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, February 22, 2022

A junior from Nelson High School and a senior from La Salle Prep are among the three finalists from the Metro East area for placement on the 2022 Rose Festival Court.

Metro East’s third contestant is from Lake Oswego. The winning princess, to be announced Feb. 28, will receive a $3,500 scholarship.

Isabella Ellsworth is among the first class of students to attend the North Clackamas School District’s newly constructed high school named for Oregon Supreme Court justice Adrienne C. Nelson. Ellsworth said she’d like to be Nelson’s first Rose Festival princess to encourage girls in years to come to participate.

“In addition, the city of Happy Valley is a growing community that is full of generous and supportive people, and I would love to represent them,” she said.

La Salle’s Mia Kritzer said she wasn’t expecting to make it this far in the competition, as a finalist to be the Portland Rose Festival princess representing Metro East schools, but she hopes to make friends as part of the process.

“So mainly I am just trying to stay grateful and maintain a positive attitude no matter the outcome,” Kritzer said. “If chosen to be a princess, you are assigned a professional mentor as well as taught a lot of practical life skills that are useful to know before entering the workforce.”

A member of the new school’s softball team, Ellsworth is an active volunteer as a member of the Scrub Club, National Honor Society, Key Club and Nelson Student Council. During middle school she served on the Peer Assurance Crew to help sixth graders on their first day; she repeated the task in helping freshmen on their first day of school at the beginning of the current school year.

Ellsworth is currently tutoring a third grader. She’s been volunteering since her sophomore year for PDX Concierge, an organization that shops and delivers groceries for the elderly and immune-compromised.

Kritzer stays busy off campus, too. She volunteers for the Sexual Assault Resource Center and Oregon Youthline, which honored her as the keynote speaker for the 2021 Oregon Suicide Prevention Conference. She worked with a college professor to develop young adult curriculum about interpersonal violence and trauma. She interned for Megan K. Kau, a sex-crimes attorney based out of Honolulu, to write subpoenas, legal briefs and discovery summaries for cases that involved sexual assault, homicide and robbery.

“This was a huge accomplishment for me because I was able to engage at work that relates to my interest,” she said.

Kritzer has been involved in several activities at La Salle since her freshman year. She’s her school’s service officer, and she founded and serves as president of Students Against Sexual Assault club. She also plays on the varsity tennis team.

Ellsworth’s favorite event is the Rose Festival’s Junior Parade.

“My aunt and uncle participated, my mother marched in her school band, and finally, it was my turn! I was so proud to continue our family legacy,” she said.

Kritzer learned about the Rose Court program from 2019 La Salle grad and Metro East princess Olivia Keepes. Kritzer earned her standing as a finalist after submitting an application, answering questions in front of a judging panel, and giving speeches about her mother and the Rose Festival’s 2022 theme, “Rose City Reunion.”

After graduation from high school, Ellsworth plans to attend a four-year university to become a pediatric nurse or a sports broadcaster. Kritzer plans on studying criminal justice, business administration and psychology in college as she works toward her career goal of becoming a criminal attorney focusing on sex crimes and child abuse.

Following the interviews conducted through Zoom, nearly 40 girls across the Portland area are now vying for the 15 princess positions and ultimately, to be crowned queen of the annual civic celebration.

Students from 4A to 6A schools in the tri-county area who had a GPA of 3.0 or higher and 20 hours of verifiable community service were eligible. The contestants were chosen from Portland Public Schools; Metro East, including Clackamas and East Multnomah counties; and Metro West, including Washington County schools.

The 2022 Portland Rose Festival Queen will be chosen on June 10.