ADM’s McKinley Cornwell and Aven Williams pose for a photo before the state individual speech contest. Photo Courtesy of Jacque Seidl

Several Adel-DeSoto-Minburn and Perry High School students will be attending the Iowa High School Speech Association State Individual Speech contest tomorrow.

ADM Speech Coach Jacque Seidl says 19 students were awarded Division-I ratings at the district contest on February 28 and will perform at state in 13 categories. Junior McKinley Cornwell was one of the students that qualified for state in Storytelling and Literary Program. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio that she has a special connection with her Storytelling piece.

“My Storytelling piece is called ‘Tajar Tales’ and I learned it at the camp I go to, so it has a very special place in my heart. I’ve really enjoyed getting to bring the story to life through voices and actions.” 

Freshman Aven Williams will be performing at state individual speech for the first time in Poetry. 

“I didn’t really have a goal to make it to state, so I feel like it’s such a great accomplishment since it’s my freshman year. I just wanted to seek out what I liked and what I didn’t like. But it turned out that I really love my pieces and I’m really happy with how I’ve been doing recently this season.” 

Perry Speech Coach Ashley Webb says five students earned Division-I ratings at districts in three different categories. She adds that of those, one has experience participating in a state contest and the rest are looking forward to experiencing it for the first time this year.

The 24 students between the two schools will head to the state contest tomorrow at Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson High School.