The Mid-Prairie Speech Team was among the participants at this past weekend’s State Speech Competition at Cedar Rapids Washington High School, where they sent seven groups to compete in three categories. Of those seven teams, one of them received a perfect score, while three received an overall I rating. In order to score an overall I rating, teams must receive two I ratings and a II from their three judges. A perfect score is a I from all three. The team that received a perfect score was the ensemble acting group of Lola Knight and Carah Reimer, who performed a piece called “Dorothy & Alice.” The three groups that got overall I ratings were two group improvisation teams, and another ensemble acting group.

Unfortunately for the Mid-Prairie Speech Team, they didn’t receive any All-State recommendations, so they won’t be sending any groups to the All-State competition. However, Speech Coach Dave Helmuth was proud of his young group of actors, many of whom had never acted in the past. He said, “We’re really proud of them, they all gave it their all. A lot of them are new to the speech contest. I think they’re really going to push hard next year and go as far as they can, get as many I’s as possible.” Helmuth encourages anyone curious about speech to give it a try next year. Next up for the Mid-Prairie Speech Team is preparations and rehearsal for the individual speech contest. The district competition for individual speech will be on Saturday, February 25th at Tri-County High School in Thornburg.