(Atlantic) Three Atlantic High School Speech Team students earned All-State Honors at the State Individual Contest held at ADM on Saturday, March 12th. Twenty-six entries from Atlantic performed in front of a panel of three judges. Performances covered a wide variety of categories from Acting to Musical Theatre, Poetry, and After Dinner Speaking. A total of 19 of the entries received a Division I rating from the judges; 10 of those were a straight 1 rating, meaning all three judges awarded a I rating.
Coach Trisha Niceswanger explains, “I am so proud of our success! We have grown our program immensely this year with more entries than ever before. It is very promising to see the younger performers with lots of talent for the future as well as the senior leadership we have in upperclassmen. Being able to have an in-person contest again this year really felt great to let these kids compete and meet fellow performers.”
Coach Brandon Baggett states, “These kids have put in the work and it paid off big time! I cannot say enough about the drive of our young talent and the upperclassmen leading by example. Since we are back to in-person competitions, the events have been so much fun this year and our team is learning so much by watching fellow competitors. As our numbers have grown again this year, the future is very bright for our speech program!”
Next, is the All-State Nominations posted online on Monday. These students chosen are the best in the state in their categories. In order to receive this honor, at least two of the three judges must nominate the performer. These students will perform one last time on the UNI Campus at the All-State Festival held on Monday, March 28th.
The three students earning All-State Honors are Charlotte Saluk, for Poetry, Reese DeArment, for Prose, and J Molina for after Dinner Speaking.
(Photo: L-R: J Molina, Charlotte Saluk, and Reese DeArment)
