On Saturday, March 15, the Southeast Valley Individual Event speech team traveled to Woodbury Central in Moville to compete at the State Individual Event Speech Contest. At the state contest, students perform in front of 3 judges and receive a I (excellent), II (good), or III (fair) rating from each judge. The ratings are then compiled into one final average rating. The day ended with Southeast Valley students earning seven I ratings (III), six mixed I ratings (I I 2), two mixed II ratings (I 2 2), and one II rating (2 2 2).

     Two students participated in the category of reviewing. Aurora Dencklau earned a I rating for her review of the book Fahrenheit 451 and Hallie Crampton earned a I for her review of the streaming series The Derry Girls. Hallie also performed in the category of Expository Address with a presentation on “Block Blast” and earned a division I rating. In the category of acting, Zephyr Lane earned a mixed I rating for her self-written dramatic piece “Survivor,” and Malia Urban earned a II for her comedy monologue “The Cashier in Lane 8.” Malia also performed in the category of Storytelling in which she performed “My Lucky Day.” For this, she earned a mixed I rating. Also in the category of storytelling, Paizley Jondle earned a I rating for her portrayal of “Mother Bruce.” Three students performed in the category of Solo Musical Theatre. Steven Fisher performed “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” from the musical Les Miserables and earned a I rating. Leo Loeffler performed “Hatful of Dreams” from the musical Wonka and also earned a I rating. Taylor Willardson performed “My Grand Plan” from the musical The Lightning Thief and earned a mixed I rating. In addition to solo musical theatre, Taylor performed “Tops and Bottoms” in the category of Prose and received a mixed II rating. Aiden Anderson was the other Southeast Valley student to perform in the category of prose. He earned a mixed I rating for his reading of “The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs.” Owen Nuss performed in solo improvisation, drawing the characters of an opera singer and a lost shoe and the category of playing in the snow for the first time. Owen received a mixed II rating. Grant Farnham earned a mixed II rating for his Literary Program titled “The Life of a Farmer.” The day ended with two poetry performances. Aurora Dencklau performed “The Delicious Parts of Life” and earned a I rating, and Blessing Cunigan performed “Making Sarah Cry” and earned a mixed I.

In addition to these wonderful performances, Aurora Dencklau has been chosen to perform in the reviewing category at the All-State festival in Cedar Falls on Monday, March 31st. This is the highest honor you can receive at the state contest.