Looking back over 30 years of directing the Senior Pear Blossom Pageant, Darcy Mann-Self was grateful not to be a judge this year.

“This was an amazing group. This was the first time we’ve had all of them above a 4.0 (GPA)” she said.

Mann-Self has enjoyed watching the many exceptional princesses over the years from her position as not only director of the pageant but executive director of the Pear Blossom Festival.

This year, she said, the princesses were not only especially successful academically, but in their leadership skills and plentiful hours of community service.

Out of all this stellar field, Clara Bennett of Crater High School was crowned Pear Blossom Queen Saturday night at North Medford High School and awarded a $2,750 scholarship. She’ll also reign over the Pear Blossom Parade April 8.

The other contestants this year were: Isabella Williams, Cascade Christian High; Morgan Dole, Eagle Point High; Andria Slaughter, Logos Public Charter School; Emma Almanza, North Medford High; and Emma Hills, South Medford High.

Bennett is a young woman using both sides of her brain, according to her application materials for the pageant. A student in the Crater Renaissance Academy School of Business, she already has her own small business — Clara B. Designs.

Bennett has also won awards, including outstanding female athlete, and she is the state champion in the high jump.

Business acumen and sports prowess aren’t the end of her interests or activities. She is a member of four clubs at Crater, including the Thespian Club and Poetry Out Loud.

She has volunteered or held leadership positions in nine organizations throughout the valley, including the Bilingual Children’s Theatre Program, Teen Musical Theatre of Oregon, and Central Point Parks and Recreation. She has also participated in dance, acting and boxing.

In a letter of recommendation from one of her teachers at Crater, Mike Rogan, he admired her kind personality and willingness to always accept constructive criticism. Especially, he was impressed that she balanced exceptional academics and extracurricular activities without a cellphone.

“It is not because she was in trouble or anything; she just made up her mind that she wants to be present, always,” Rogan said of the teen’s decision to eschew a cellphone.

In her own words, she wrote (in purple ink) to the Pear Blossom Selection Committee that participating in the pageant was a long-held aspiration for her.

“I’ve admired the Pear Blossom queens since I was a 5-year-old cartwheeling in the parade,” Bennett wrote.