Following this year’s IHSSA State Large Group Speech Contest in Bettendorf, two events from Lone Tree High School have earned a trip to the All-State Festival.

Getting the All-State nod in a non-performing role was the Lions’ readers theatre group of Alex Dautremont, Cate Sexton, Rylie Viers, Maddi Floyd, and Avery Lisk. It was the first State appearance for Lisk, who described the performance to KCII. “Ours was about Alzheimer’s Disease. We talk about certain people and how we feel about the situation of someone that was dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease and how they were slowly losing their memory.”

Joining the readers theatre group at All-State is Katie McCarty, who will be performing at the Festival. McCarty’s solo mime performance follows a single character through the big moments in their life, highlighting the passage of time.

To advance to All-State, groups must receive a division 1 rating from two of three judges. They must also receive a nomination from at least one of the judges. Roughly five percent of high school performers in Iowa will achieve this. This year’s Iowa High School Speech Association Large Group Speech Festival will take place on Saturday, February 17 at Iowa State University in Ames.