Several Greene County High School students are ready for the next round of competition, as three entries are headed to Waukee High School for the Iowa High School Speech Association State Large Group on Saturday.

Senior Sadie Shannon is part of the Readers Theatre act with “The Internet is Distract-Oh Look a Kitten,” as she plays the role of Fiona who ends up helping Mika finish a paper on “The Great Gatsby” after Mika has been distracted by her mom yelling at her and talking to different internet apps. Shannon is also a two-time state large group qualifier in Readers Theatre and is thrilled to be going back to state, especially after having to overcome an obstacle to get there as a group.

“Everyone in the group was pretty busy, so we mostly met on Sunday afternoons. And I think we all pulled it together. We added some like things in there like on show day, but I think we did really well.”

Junior Lucy Vander Linden qualified for state in Choral Reading and Group Improv. She says the Choral Reading piece is “Travel Through TV Time” where there are several iconic tv shows from different time periods that have the ensemble also singing the theme songs, along with transitioning with commercials from those eras. She is also going to perform at state with group improv and she explains how their ensemble came together for group improv with Randa Linberg, Ava Binkley and Savannah Lansman.

“Our group started off kind of as a joke. Me and a friend were like, ‘Oo, we should totally mime!’ And we were not going to mime, obviously. And I was like, ‘What if we do group improv with a couple of other people?’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, that’d be fun!’ So I talked to Randa and Savannah Lansman, and we all just kind of, we’re like, ‘Ok.’ And then we started practicing, and it turned out to be going really well. And we just kept going with it.”    

The State Large Group Contest is open to the public on Saturday with Greene County headed to Waukee High School. According to IHSSA, an entry must receive a Division I-rating and nominated by the judges as the best act of the center in order to perform at the All-State Festival at the end of the month. You can hear more from Vander Linden, Shannon and Linberg in tomorrow’s Jefferson A & W Family Restaurant Let’s Talk Greene County program.