Saturday afternoon was the fourth annual Greene County High School Fine Arts Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

Dr. Douglas Miller was the first of the 2026 Induction Class who gave remarks. The 1959 Jefferson High School graduate was a four-time all-stater on French horn and earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from Drake University before being on the musical faculty at Penn State University for 32 years. He said he appreciated everything he learned while growing up in Iowa and asked the audience to always remember to recognize students in the arts and find more opportunities for them like he had.

“It’s important for someone like me who chooses a career in the arts. But it’s even more important for those whose careers are chosen in other fields, but for whom the arts will enrich their lives for the rest of their years.”  

Kate Cuddy was the next inductee, who graduated from Jefferson High School in 1971, who went on to compose and produce over 100 advertising jingles and corporate music packages, including the Roto-Rooter and Hardware Hank jingles. She also was the Director of Music at St. Thomas Apostle Church in Illinois and spent 14 years at Benilde-St. Margaret’s School, where she earned Teacher of the Year honors. 

Marty Aldrich graduated from Jefferson High School in 1979 and he taught middle school band for 38 years at Mount Ayr, Shenandoah, Clarinda and Lewis Central. His eighth grade band at Clarinda performed at the Iowa Bandmasters Association (IBA) State Conference. He also is the only Iowa director to be named the Schmitt Music Middle School Band Director of the Year.

Peter Thompson was a 1997 Jefferson-Scranton High School graduate, who was a three-time all-stater and a member of the All-State Jazz Band. He is in his 18th year as the Ames Middle School Band Director, whose eighth grade band was also selected to perform at the IBA State Conference.  

The final inductee for 2026 was Michael Kennedy, who graduated from Greene County High School in 2017. Kennedy was selected for the All-State Jazz Choir, a three-time all-state choir performer and received an Outstanding Performer Award. He talked about attending a drama school in New York City after high school, but then the covid pandemic put an end to that. He then went to the School of Music at Southwestern Community College.

“I learned a lot, kept pushing myself (and) gained more skills that I didn’t learn in theater school in New York. That was kind of what helped me pivot to what I do now in Orlando (Florida). It’s just a bunch of different theater productions, I work in the theme parks. I do a lot of like burlesque and like pop-up gigs and stuff. It’s such a dream to use all of my skills that I’ve been building and actually put them to use.”   

Click here to see the ceremony in its entirety as the event was livestreamed on the school district’s YouTube page.