ADM Students from left to right: Kayleigh Nau, Caleb Klassen, and Ash Gabler
Students from Perry and Adel-DeSoto-Minburn High Schools will be apart of a district competition today.
The students are at the 2025 Iowa High School Speech Association District Large Group Speech Contest with one of the sites being at Adair – Casey / Guthrie Center High School. According to Perry Speech Coach Mandy Meyers, 20 students will be making an appearance covering four categories of musical theater, readers theater, group improvisation, and short film. She reveals that Perry was absent from the competition last year following the school shooting that occurred.
ADM’s Speech Coach Jacque Seidl highlights that 60 students are attending across 17 categories. Senior Ash Gabler, who is performing in readers theater and varsity improv, elaborates on the positive atmosphere the coaches have established at ADM.
“Working with a group, the people around you can inspire you. I’ve never once had actual negative feedback in a practice, it’s always just been ‘you did good on this, but can I have more?’”
The competition will feature hundreds of schools throughout the state of Iowa at several different sites. According to IHSSA, the entries that receive a Division 1-rating will advance to the state contest in February. The full list of students competing from Perry and ADM can be found below.
Perry
Musical Theater: Ethan Jackson, Hunter Ayers, Alyssa Atwell, Sami Lawson, Eli Countryman, Genesis Gonzalez and Analise Collins.
Reader’s Theater: Andres Zarate, Olivia Christensen and Mallory Grant.
Group Improv: Landon Grant, Xavier Hibbert, Seth Borgeson, and Cayden Haye.
Short Film: Catherine Miranda, Jackson Loyd, Landon Grant, Xavier Hibbert, Seth Borgeson, and Cayden Haye.
ADM
| Category | Title/Author/etc. | Performers |
| Varsity Readers | Did you know about my war? | Ash Gabler
Payton Taylor Caleb Klassen Rhyan Miller Haley Nelson Nick Subbert Brenna Seidl Ella Greer Monika Kudokaite Christian McAdon Patrick Lee Paul Giles Haley Perry Mackenzie Evans |
| Varsity Choral | Camp S’more Adventure | Thora Hegarty
Alayna Freeman Noah Evans William Beebe Emmett Clarke Lexi Cleghorn Isaac Hatchitt Reyna Shirley-Brown Emily Piepmeier Tate Truitt Kae Nau Hannah Harbison Riley Milburn Ryland Moss |
| Varsity One Act | Death of the Doorstep Kiss by Kamron Klitgaard | Kae Nau
Levi Cline McKinley Cornwell Chloe Meacham Mason Willms Julia Logue Avery Lengahan Danielle Georgick Siena Schmidt Kavya Patel William Beebe |
| Varsity Ensemble 1 | Every Monday Morning by Scott Haan | Hailey Nelson
Brenna Seidl Payton Taylor |
| Varsity Ensemble 2 | So Long Kitty by Ken Bradbury | Ella Greer
Christian McAdon Danielle Georgick |
| Varsity Short Film 1 | Tik Tap | Thora Hegarty
Emily Piepmeier Mackenzie Evans Reyna Shirley-Brown |
| Varsity Short Film 2 | TBD | Libby Lohse
Carter Haaland Chloe Meacham Kylie Van Hailey Lensch |
| Varsity Improv 1 | n/a | Caleb Klassen
Isaac Hatchitt Nick Subbert Tate Truitt |
| Varsity Improv 2 | n/a | Rhyan Miller
Devin Morey Levi Cline McKinley Cornwell |
| Varsity Improv 3 | n/a | Ash Gabler
Julia Logue Emma Shepherd Lydia Georgick |
| Varsity Musical Theatre | School of Rock by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Glenn Slater & Julian Fellowes | Mason Willms
Alayna Freeman Lea Harbison Ryland Moss Riley Milburn Paul Giles Patrick Lee |
| Varsity Radio News 1 | TBA | Noelle McDonald
Hailey Lensch Ky Van Carter Haaland |
| Varsity Radio News 2 | Jaeley Doll
Janko Ilic Isabelle Karwal Libby Lohse Katelin Blome |
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| Varsity Radio News 3 | Zuri Moss
Devin Morey Eli Stirna Monika Kudokaite |
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| Varsity TV News 1 | ||
| Varsity TV News 2 | ||
| Varsity Group Mime 1 | Kavya Patel |