Reigning Rose Queen returning for this year's competition

When the 2018 Rose Queen is crowned Friday night at Lake Park High School's west campus, reigning 2017 Rose Queen Shana Abraham plans to be there.

"I'm flying back. I'm excited to come home," said Abraham, a freshman studying public health at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Abraham says she won the crown last year by taking a relaxed attitude.

"My sister was Rose Queen in 2014. My family was really pushing me to try for it," she said. "I just tried to enjoy myself rather than competing with the other girls."

As Rose Queen, Abraham received a $2,000 scholarship, money she used toward her college tuition.

The Bloomingdale resident also won an additional $500 scholarship based on her Lake Park academic performance.

This year's Rose Queen will be selected from a field of 10 competitors, organizer Katie Petrucci said, and will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship. The runner-up will receive a $1,000 scholarship.

In addition, three $250 scholarships will be awarded, one to each of the three competitors with the highest high school grade-point averages.

The scholarship competition is open to female high school students who live in Roselle and/or attend Lake Park. The program is funded by the Village of Roselle, area businesses and proceeds from ticket sales.

The 10 contestants are Faith Adcock, Joie Allen, Aubrey Cameron, Julianna Crocilla, Noelle Nelson, Rahi Patel, Nicolette Pilalis, Sydnie Shay, Kajol Topiwali and Nicole Walderbach.

Petrucci, a teacher at Benson Primary School in Itasca and a graduate of Lake Park, said the Rose Queen scholarship program is in its 59th year.

"We just really love doing it," she said. "We love pushing out the female empowerment."

On Friday evening, the competition that began with written essays and personal interviews with the contest's four judges, will culminate with four events.

The first is called Community Connection and gives each girl the chance to wear an outfit reflecting their personality while emcees read a brief essay about their unique connection to the community.

Last year, Abraham said the emcees read her story about how she began teaching hip-hop and Bollywood-style dancing at Bloomingdale Park District classes in the summer between her freshman and sophomore years at Lake Park.

For the second part of the show, the talent competition, Abraham said she performed a hip-hop dance.

"I actually prerecorded myself doing an Indian dance on screen," she said.

The two dance performances were presented simultaneously, an unlikely artistic pairing that Abraham said worked well.

This year there will be singers, dancers, Bollywood-style performers, a flutist, a circus act and a photo exhibition.

During the formalwear segment, the girls show off their style while being escorted onstage by someone they admire.

"I actually brought my mother. My mother's been a role model my entire life," Abraham said. "I wore a traditional Indian outfit because I didn't have a gown at the time."

Before the new Rose Queen is named, the contestants are each asked a randomly selected question.

"We know what the questions are, but we don't know what question we are going to get," Abraham said.

Abraham's question asked her to name a famous person, dead or alive, who she would most like to meet.

Abraham, who served as a religious education teacher at St. Mary's Knanaya Catholic Church in Morton Grove, said she chose Mother Teresa.

"I was really intrigued that she went to India and was really well known there," she said. "I was really inspired by her faith and her commitment to helping other people."

Since she was crowned Rose Queen, Abraham appeared in the Rose Parade in June and participated in several other community events.

Now nearing the completion of her freshman year in college, she said she hopes to launch a career in the health field.

"I really want to work in global community health and help Second and Third World people develop health programs," she said.

If you go

What: Rose Queen Scholarship Event

When: 7 p.m. Friday, March 2

Where: Lake Park High School West Campus, 500 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Roselle

Tickets: $5 at the door

Info: www.roselle.il.us