Junior Finn Christensen-McElroy moved to Oregon from California nine years ago, having grown up in San Francisco and the Bay Area. While she will always love the sunny weather of SoCal — where most of her extended family still lives — Oregon has its own charm, particularly the fact that it has four seasons (rather than just warm and less warm).  Her favorite classes this year are Advanced ...

Junior Kayah Cieslak has lived in Portland, Oregon, all of her life — despite moving from one household to another. With her all-time favorite book being “The Little Prince,” she has a deep appreciation for media in all its forms, like movies, music, and books. Her favorite music artists currently — although her rotation changes frequently — are beabadoobee, Panchiko, Radiohead, Starflyer ...

Junior Audrey Waters lives in Milwaukie, only a short commute away from La Salle. With an unexpected change in her plans for high school she ended up at La Salle, after receiving a recommendation from a family friend.  She attended Hosford Middle School, where she was in a Chinese Immersion program. This year her favorite classes include Honors Spanish 3, AP English 3, and Honors Biology. Audrey als...

Junior Harper Coleman originally came to La Salle because of her older brother. She has lived in Portland for nearly her whole life, and before arriving at La Salle, attended St. Agatha Catholic School from pre-K on. This is her third semester of journalism, and she is an active member of the theater program as an actor and crew member. Harper loves the passionate environment of the theater and the...

Junior Kieran Crist-Kenworthy was born in Portland, Oregon and has lived there his entire life. He deeply values its rainy environment, even if recent summers have brought absurd heat.  He was brought to La Salle by its strong sense of continuity with his middle school, Fransiscan Montessori Earth School, in both values and shared community.  Kieran possesses an interest and passion for wr...

Julia was born and raised in Oregon. Going to private school at St. John the Baptist her entire life, she planned on attending La Salle since kindergarten.  Throughout her educational career, English has always been a subject that Julia has admired. Her love for this particular class is what sparked her interest in taking journalism as an elective.  Julia has played soccer since she was five years ...

Junior Esmé Ryznar is currently in her second semester of Journalism. Moving here from Alaska roughly 14 years ago, she enjoys the rainy weather and atmosphere of Oregon.  Coming to La Salle simply because her brother, Dylan, attended, Esmé has since found herself participating in many activities, engaging in the opportunities presented to her, and loving the community at La Salle.  Esmé has...

Junior Clover Martin was born in Pacifica, a small town on the California coastline, and moved to Oregon when she was seven years old. She still visits her hometown during the summers, often returning for music expos or festivals with her father, who works as a composer. Growing up immersed in music, Clover has dabbled in almost any instrument you could think of, though her main focus has always be...

Junior Tabitha Obuchowski lives in Happy Valley and came to La Salle following her sister's path. Before La Salle, Tabitha attended El Puente Elementary, a Spanish immersion school in Milwaukie and then Christ the King for middle school to be close to La Salle.  Music is very important to Tabitha as she is always open to a new genre or artist recommendation. Her interest in music started when her mom s...

Eli Batcheller is currently a junior. Eli lived in Oregon City for around 16 years, until moving to Oak Grove in the summer after his Sophomore year.  His favorite part of all of his classes are his friends around him that he has been able to make. One of the most important things he finds is the community at La Salle in all aspects.  He originally chose to go to La Salle because of his old...

Senior Gwen Brown loves to experience new things and isn’t scared to get dirty or wet. She spends a lot of her time outside of school exploring the Pacific Northwest, where she’s lived her entire life.  Growing up with easy access to Mt. Hood and the Oregon Coast, she was swimming through waves and skiing down slopes if she wasn’t camping at a lake. Nowadays, Gwen tries to find time t...

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, senior Rita Tran loves being able to step outside and be surrounded by all the nature around her.  She loves being able to spend time outside any chance she gets, from playing tennis, swimming, or going on picnics with friends. Rita is involved in many different communities, such as the AAPI club and her church, St. Rose of Lima, where she loves being abl...

Born in Alaska, junior Ashe Hardigg moved to Portland 14 years ago and has lived there ever since. He went to Franciscan Montessori Earth School for middle school and, along with almost all of his classmates, chose to attend high school at La Salle. Ashe found a love for running during quarantine and carried this over to participating in track and field for La Salle during the spring. He also plays...

Suzy Valdivia was born and raised in Oregon. She attended Ron Russell Middle School, and did not begin to consider La Salle for high school until 8th grade. Suzy had always planned on going to David Douglas High School until her mom encouraged her to shadow her cousin, who attended La Salle previously and graduated in 2022. She was intrigued by the class sizes but also the community of La Salle,...

Junior Cash Korvola moved to Oregon from Montana when he was young, and he feels that has led to his love of traveling. For most of his life, Cash attended public schools, including Llewellyn Elementary and Sellwood Middle School. However, he decided to change it up a bit for high school by going to La Salle, driven by his eagerness for better academics, athletics, and a stronger community. While...

Sophomore Chloe Beymer spends most of her free time baking. She likes making éclairs, crème brûlée, cinnamon rolls, doughnuts, tiramisu, and much, much more.  She gets her inspiration from baking shows, which she enjoys watching, along with cooking shows and reality TV.  She has been playing classical piano for ten years, yet can only play one song by memory. She finds more enjoyment in...

Sophomore Elena Rodriguez has always lived in Oregon. She doesn’t travel much, but dreams of visiting places with a lot of history, such as Greece. She moved to Oregon City from Portland two years ago while attending a Spanish immersion school in Beaverton. Although she went to a Spanish immersion school and speaks Spanish fluently, she has become very fond of her German class, as she decided...

Freshman Grady Wilkinson was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and loves the cool, rainy weather and the various shops. Prior to coming to La Salle, Grady went to ACCESS Academy, a public school in southwest Portland. His favorite subject currently is English for no particular reason, but it changes from time to time. This year, he hopes to pass all his classes with A’s. In his free time,...

Sophomore Izzy Garlington has lived in Oregon her entire life. The inclusive community and amount of opportunities La Salle provides were what drew her in to join. She went to Christ the King, right next door to La Salle, through first to eighth grade.  At La Salle, Izzy takes part in golf, the Asian American Pacific Islander club, Black Student Union, and the Keeping the Faith club. Outside of ...

Sophomore James Garone was born in New York, but moved to Portland when he was three. After going to St. Ignatius, a small Catholic school on Powell Boulevard, he came to La Salle for high school, motivated by a great experience he had while shadowing. He has always been interested in computer science, and because of this, absolutely loves the computer science courses offered at La Salle, shown...

Sophomore Sophia Igarashi grew up in Oregon, but spent a lot of her summers in Germany with her family. Attending Whitford Middle School for her first year of middle school but later moving to St. Anthony’s Catholic School, she ended up going to La Salle on a whim. Her biggest accomplishments in life so far is learning to play the violin, along with currently taking Honors German 3. Having joined...

Junior Kaitlyn Roozen has lived in Portland, Oregon, her whole life, although she has had to move three different times. She enjoys the rainy weather Oregon has to offer because she finds it comforting. Before starting her educational career at La Salle, Kaitlyn attended Saint John the Baptist from preschool all the way through 8th grade. She was inspired to come to La Salle due to the close proximity...

Sophomore Mercy Gobana attended St. Therese Catholic School for middle school, and went on to go to La Salle to experience the many classes and extracurriculars it offers. In her freshman year, she joined theater, where she participated in construction and backstage crew. She enjoys working behind the curtain in plays because building the set allows her to practice her artistic skills, while running...

Freshman Lou Rodriguez was born and raised in the Southeast Portland neighborhood of Montavilla. A beloved neighborhood to Rodriguez, he feels Montavilla is a small town with a bustling downtown that is somewhat separate from the rest of Portland. Rodriguez’s dad is from Argentina but moved to Mexico at a young age. When his dad turned 18, he moved to Texas and started a new life in America. Rodriguez’s...

Maya Calik has always lived in Oregon, but loves traveling anywhere and everywhere in the world.  Originally, what brought Maya to La Salle was quality education. She attended Happy Valley Middle School and when she was in elementary school she found herself interested in La Salle when her dad introduced it to her. Maya does not have a favorite class but she believes that all of them have differen...

Senior Sofia Taylor enjoys her english and journalism classes, as she has a passion for writing and literature. When she's not at school, Taylor enjoys spending time with her family and friends, thrifting, hiking, and attending concerts. Although Taylor is not currently participating in any sports, she loves to go on runs and swim in her free time. Taylor works through many organizations in...

Sophomore Roland Zuments joined the La Salle community in 2023, and currently is in his second semester in journalism. Aside from his involvement in The Falconer, Roland also participates in the Speech and Debate team for La Salle, hoping to refine his existing speaking skills and use them to gain success in tournaments. Roland also has many out of school activities he enjoys, such as archery....

Freshman Olivia Klein has lived in Portland, Oregon, her whole life. She enjoys camping and being out on the water or in nature. Olivia was led to La Salle by her older sister, a recent graduate from the class of 2024. Olivia’s favorite class so far is Physics with science teacher Mr. Kyle Voge, as he makes the class more interactive and unique compared to a standard classroom. Aside from the...

Freshman Ava Slater has lived in Oregon her whole life, staying in Happy Valley for the majority of that time. Ava enjoys the unpredictable and diverse weather in Oregon, especially when all the leaves turn orange in the fall. Ava’s family was brought to La Salle because of its exceptional academics and strong community. She graduated from Holy Family Catholic School last year. She has enjoy...

Sophomore Sammy Uicker was born and raised in Portland. His favorite thing about the city is how much good food there is.  He attended Franciscan Montessori Earth School and was drawn to La Salle because of its academics and community. His favorite classes are AP Calculus AB, Honors English II, and Honors Chemistry. Sammy plays baseball for La Salle, and this is his first semester in Journa...

Lizzie Ceballos is currently a junior, and this is her first semester in journalism. Her favorite things to do are going to new concerts and playing with animals. If not at school or hanging out with her friends, Lizzie works a job at Sparky’s pizza in Damascus, which she spends most of her afternoons doing.  Lizzie loves listening to all genres of music, her favorite artists being Zach Brya...

Senior Rowan Bienapfl has lived in Oregon her entire life and enjoys the rain that comes each season. She enjoys walking her chickens and adding to her plant collection, but spends most of her free time hiking, reading, painting, listening to music, and napping. Her current goal is to learn basic Russian and Ukrainian so she can better understand the people affected by the war reaching out for ...

Junior Milo Trevino was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and lived there up to the age of five. He then moved to California a year prior to moving to Portland.  He attended Fransican Montessori Earth School from first grade through middle school. His favorite subject is science because he has always had a love for it. Additionally, he has always been curious about how things work. He is par...

Junior Emma Washburn loves to write and hang out with her family in her free time, as well as golf with her dad every week.  Never having golfed before, Emma joined La Salle’s golf team last spring. She loves the game and can’t wait to excel so she can, one day, beat her dad. Although she goes to school in Milwaukie, Emma lives with her family of five in Vancouver, Washington. Emma hopes to move ...

Emmett Strackany is a sophmore student who was born in Oregon and has lived there his entire life. He loves all seasons here, but his favorite is probably fall. After previously attending Franciscan Montessori Earth School (FMES) for middle school, Emmett came to La Salle with nearly everyone else from his class. He greatly loves FMES and hopes to revisit every chance he gets.  At La Salle he lov...

Sophmore Zayna Elkhal’s family is originally from Syria, and she loves snowboarding, dark chocolate, reading, and writing. Before the sixth grade Elkhal despised reading and writing. She would always just stare at the book and pretend to read it during reading time. It wasn’t until the sixth grade during Covid-19 she was so bored, that she got into reading.  All it took was one good boo...

Senior Bella Buss is in her fourth semester of journalism. She is a part of the girls tennis team and enjoys playing music and spending time with family outside of school.  Before coming to La Salle, Bella went to a small art school in downtown Portland, and to say the transition wasn’t easy would be an understatement. She struggled to find her footing, but now, in her second year at La Salle...