Tomorrow is the Iowa High School Speech Association State Individual Contest and several Greene County and Paton-Churdan students are ready to compete.
Greene County High School qualified ten categories with seven students to perform. One of those students, senior Bill Wright, is taking Radio News and After Dinner Speaking. He talks about his After Dinner Speaking topic of high school and college mascots that he tries to entertain a specific audience.
“I have memorized every single high school mascot in Iowa. So on that topic I have noticed there are a bunch of tigers in that and the same applies for American universities. I wanted to extend on having schools change their mascot from a tiger to something else relating to their heritage. And asking DePauw University of Greene Council, Indiana to remain the Tigers, while everyone else changes them.”
Wright also expects to make it to the All-State Festival in Radio News, as he has done that category all four years of high school. Another senior Esther Van Horn is taking Prose and Literary Program to state and she comments on making it to the state individual speech contest this year.
“I wasn’t entirely surprised that I made it to state. But I was happy that I made it to state because like (you) kind of expect it of yourself, especially when it’s like you’re a senior, you just expect to make it to state so it would be really disappointing if you didn’t. So I was relieved that I did make it so I didn’t have to be actually so upset with myself that I didn’t make it.”
Additionally, Paton-Churdan High School has three students that are going to the state contest, which is being held at Adel-DeSoto-Minburn High School on Saturday.
Greene County
Gavin Vander Linden- Reviewing and Musical Theater
Leah McCormick- Prose
Bill Wright- After Dinner and Radio News
Maggie Mikkelsen- Reviewing
Ava Schilling-Acting
Esther Van Horn- Lit Program and Prose
Brooklyn Roberts- Storytelling
Paton-Churdan
Ella Tasler: Poetry
Catarina Hobbs: Storytelling
Blaise Schilling: Poetry