Perry High School Speech Team will get a chance to shine on a big stage this weekend. 

Speech Coach Mari Butler says they took nine groups to the district contest in Johnston and five of them earned  a division one rating which means they advanced to the state competition. Butler says those division one rated groups include two short films, an improv, readers theater and radio broadcasting. She talks about the work put in by her students. 

“It is hours worth of practice time, especially for something like a short film. I filmed with students for maybe five hours one night with our assistant coach, Mandy Meyers. She filmed with students for I think maybe eight hours one day and that’s just the filming part, not the editing. That’s just one example. We started our speech rehearsals in November, and so students prepare for these things for months before they go to a single competition.”

Also a highlight from the district competition was a group of all freshmen getting a division one rating for their improv act called “No Name Given,” which included Catherine Miranda, Xavier Hibbert, Landon Grant, and Seth Borgeson. Grant tells Raccoon Valley Radio what he is looking forward to at the state speech large group competition. 

“I’m excited about improv just because we don’t know what we’re going to do and it’s going to (be) fun to see what we end up doing.” 

The five groups will be the Iowa High School Speech Association State Large Group Contest at Waukee High School on Saturday. For a schedule of performances you can go here.