Perry senior Andres Zarate (left) and sophomore Genesis Gonzalez (right)

Four students between Perry and Adel-DeSoto-Minburn High Schools are going to a statewide festival on Monday.

Perry Speech Coach Mandy Meyers confirms that sophomore Genesis Gonzalez and senior Andres Zarate were nominated to the Iowa High School Speech Association All-State Festival. Zarate, who’s going in Radio News Announcing, recalls his emotions after hearing he was nominated for All-State for the first time.

“It felt fantastic! For the last three years, I’ve done my best to get All-State, and there have been some things that have prevented me, whether it’s not an adequate enough score, or whether it’s sickness. It’s taken a lot for me to finally be able to get this All-State nomination and it just felt fantastic once I finally heard the news.”

Gonzalez, who is also a first-time qualifier and will be performing in Acting, talks about how she is hoping to satisfy others with her piece.

“I’m excited to have the judges enjoy the performance that I put (on) because the whole performance is so that they can enjoy it and I already quite enjoy it, so as long as they’re enjoying the show.”

According to ADM Speech Coach Jacque Seidl, her daughter Brenna, who is a junior performing in Public Address and senior Payton Taylor, who also made All-State in Literary Program, are the two representatives from their school as they will be going for the first time as well. 

The four students from Perry and ADM will present their piece during the All-State Festival on Monday on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.