When it comes to speech, Mid-Prairie sets the standard.

The high school’s team has posted some impressive contest numbers this year. They sent 22 events to the district contest at Tri-County High School at the end of February, with an amazing 19 of them receiving Division I ratings and advancing to the State Individual Event Contest at Grinnell. At state, Mid-Prairie again showed out, with six events nominated to the All-State Festival coming up Monday. Coaches Christine Meader and Lisa Helmuth talked about the level of success achieved by the team in comparison to the program’s history and other competing schools. “Six events qualified last year which was the school record. We matched that again this year. Only two schools from southeast Iowa sent more individual events than us, and we’re a pretty small school.”

The six events nominated to the All-State Festival include Haydon Bailey in Acting and Musical Theatre. Olivia Caskey in After Dinner Speaking, Logan McClellen in Storytelling, Jack Greiner in Improvisation and Avery Slabaugh for Interpretive Prose. Roughly 5% of performers receive All-State Festival invitations and even more rare is Bailey who will perform in two different events, one of only 30 students in Iowa to receive that honor. The All-State Festival will be held Monday, March 28th in Cedar Falls on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa. Hear more from the Mid-Prairie speech team and coaches during Thursday and Friday’s JJ Nichting Company In Touch With Southeast Iowa Programs on-air and online at KCIIradio.com.