PHS, PCHS Speech Programs Earned Top Ratings at Large Group Districts

Both schools will showcase their events at the annual City-Wide Speech Festival this Friday Night at PCHS’s Vermeer Auditorium



Both the Pella Christian High School Speech Team and the Pella High School Speech Team had a successful District competition on Saturday, January 23 at Grinnell High School. Those receiving I’s will advance to the State competition at Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa on February 6.

PCHS had 31 students performing in five Large Group Events and all 31 will be advancing to the State competition. Pella Christian students competed in a One-Act, Readers Theatre, Choral Reading, Ensemble Acting, and Group Improv. The PCHS Speech Team is under the direction of Marlo Van Peursem and Helen Luhrs.

PHS had 45 members performing in Large Group Events with fifteen entries in the competition. Twelve of those entries will advance to the State competition--including Readers Theatre, Choral Reading, Ensemble Acting, Group Improv, Musical Theatre, and Radio Broadcasting. The PHS Speech Team is under the direction of Suzie Jones and Ashlee Whittington.

The Pella community will have a chance to see all of these performances on this Friday evening, January 29, beginning at 7pm during the third annual All-City Speech Festival. This year’s festival will be held at Pella Christian High School’s Vermeer Auditorium, 300 Eagle Lane.

“It’s a great night to see lots of talented students all across the city,” said Van Peursem, a co-host of the event. “I love it that both schools can work together to put this evening together. The Pella community is going to be in for a real treat!”

The Iowa High School Speech Association governs Speech competition in Iowa, and has 487 member schools. Approximately 40,000 Iowa high school students participate in Speech events.

The Pella Christian High School events include:

One-Act Play - Orphan Trains - Sara Van Gorp, Chris McLaughlin, Nicole Vande Zande, Kristi Van Wyk, Alexa Zylstra, David Visser, India Sarver, Emily Visser, Amber Attema, Seth Fopma, Jalissa Morgan, Jillian Kuyers, Julie Jansen, Jeremy Visser, and Chess Van Wyk. For the last two years, PCHS’s one-act entry has also been selected as only one of eight schools across Iowa to perform at the All-State Festival on the campus of Iowa State University.

Readers Theatre - All I Really Need to Know... - Buffy Bouwkamp, Tom Bouwkamp, Shayla De Jong, Abigail Fincel, Skyler Giddings, Jaclyn Kuyers, Michaela Martin, Ty Sajdak, Maria Van Wolde, and Kim Van Zee.

Choral Reading - The Creation - Sara Van Gorp, Vanessa Blankespoor, Chess Van Wyk, Kristi Van Wyk, Nicole Vande Zande, Amber Attema, Emily Visser, Delaney Dugger, Josh Johnson, Chris McLaughlin, David Visser, Micah Nieboer, and Alissa Ten Naple.

Ensemble Acting - Little Women - Shayla De Jong, Katelyn Roose, and Jillian Kuyers

Group Improvisation - Ty Sajdak and Jeremy Visser

The Pella High School Events include:

Ensemble Acting – The Importance of Being Earnest – Liz Core, Morgan Anderson, Brody Van Berkum, Jake Anderson, Rainier Worstell

Musical Theatre – Guys and Dolls: Sue Me – Kelly Anderson, Jacob Martin, Luke Vande Haar, Lynae Toom

Ensemble Acting - The Role of Della – Nicole Stafford, Maggie Ann Landon, Marielle Gaiser- Gonzalez

Group Improvisation – David Rozendaal, Marielle Gaiser-Gonzalez, Kelly Anderson, Jacob Martin, Hanna Martin

Musical Theatre – Little Shop of Horrors – Drew Senn, Maggie Ann Landon

Group Improvisation – Bailey Tripp, Mitch Shepperd, Evan Jones, Micah Ziemetz

Choral Reading – Masque of the Red Death – Luke Vande Haar, Chelsea Byers, Megan Card, Shaun Van Weelden, Eric Moore, Ruth Yang, Christina Hibbard, Tori Gensch, Tyler Neff, Korey Jones, Emily Gates, Nicole Stafford

Musical Theatre – Guys and Dolls: A Bushel and a Peck – Tyler Neff, Morgan Anderson, Madeline Mueller, Hanna Martin, Heidi Gritters

Ensemble Acting – Demon Child – Beth Johnson and Sarah Davis

Readers Theatre – The Cask of Amontillado – Evan Jones, Mitch Shepperd, Micah Ziemetz, Bailey Tripp

Readers Theatre - Octette Bridge Club –Korey Jones, Tori Gensch, Megan Card, Adam Gromotka, Madeline Mueller, Emily Gates, Chelsea Byers, Christina Hibbard

Group Improvisation – John Rhys Sutija, Chris Renaud, Beth Johnson, Kjiersten Schut

Group Improvisation – Adam Gromotka, Eric Moore, Ben Palmer, Jake Anderson

Ensemble Acting – Brown and Whitmore – Kayla Da and Sarah Buekelman

Radio Broadcasting – KLAF – Erin Van Hal, Hannah Axt, Emily Flahive, Ashley Van Wyk, Leah Koolstra

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