Greene County High School students are hard at work preparing for the Iowa High School Speech Association’s District Large Group Contest.
Head coach Kelley Gray says they are taking seven groups and 27 students to Ballard-Huxley High School in Huxley this weekend. The events include choral reading, reader’s theater, a one-act play, ensemble acting, short film, musical theater and group improvisation.
Gray took over as the head coach following Glenna Strong’s retirement last year. She believes there is a nice mix of veterans and those new to speech. Students have put in hours of rehearsals before and after school and Gray is hoping that everyone will have their best performances at Saturday’s contest. In order to qualify for the state competition, an event must receive a I-rating, which is a superior performance. Last year, GCHS qualified four events for state.
The public is invited to watch and support the students competing on Saturday. Events start at 8:30am. A full list of students and their events can be found below:
Choral Reading, performing 2 alternate versions of Casey at the Bat: Kenna Marquardt (11), Hannah Promes (11), Maddie Schroeder (11), Olivia Hansen (11), Laurin Lyons (10), Hannah McConnell (11), Emily Heupel (11), Hannah Stein (11), Taylor Harmeyer (12), and Caiti Schaben (11)
Reader’s Theater, performing a piece titled “Flight 212 to LA”: Regan Lamoureux (10), Samantha Hardaway (10), Brittany Harmeyer (10), Lindsey Paulsen (11), Haley Hall (10), Naomi Mumuni (11 and a foreign exchange student from Ghana)
One-Act Play, performing “Night of the Livid Dad’: Arthur Bardole (9), Jordan Davis (9), Naomi Long (9), Kara Betts (10), Michael Kennedy (11)
Ensemble Acting, performing “Our Depression Speech”: Michael Kennedy (11), Kara Betts (10)
Short Film, an original screenplay by Jack Schilling (11), Jordan Davis (9), Arthur Bardole (9), Naomi Long (9)
Musical Theater, performing a Candide medley: David Petersen (12), Aly Matthews (12), Danielle Johnson (12)
Group Improvisation: Regan Lamoureux (10), Samantha Hardaway (10), Emily Bettey (10), Emma Larson (10)