CCHS individual speech squad sends five events to state

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

On the tail of an all-state performance in group speech last week, the Charles City High School individual speech program took 11 events to Forest City on Saturday, and five of those received Division I ratings and will advance to state competition.

Those advancing were junior Anders Haglund in musical theatre, junior Teagan Prigge in musical theatre, freshman Addison Tracey in storytelling, junior Sophia Jensen in prose and senior Shemaiah Lara in poetry. All will compete at state speech at Clear Lake on March 12.

“It was a great day, and I am proud of how far each student has come in developing those life skills of public speaking,” said CCHS speech director Michelle Grob. “They are a team that supports each other in their victories and their losses.”

Haglund performed “Run Away with Me” from The Unauthorized Biography of Samantha Brown, Prigge performed “Somewhere That’s Green” from Little Shop of Horrors, Tracey performed “Regards to the Man in the Moon” from Ezra Jack Keats, Jensen performed “Death by Scrabble” from Charlie Fish and Lara performed “Learning the Hard Way” by anonymous.

Receiving Division II ratings for Charles City on Saturday were Hannah DeVore in both lit program and poetry, Lara in prose, Ellie Gassman in poetry, Kaity Heckers in musical theatre and Blake Hoeft in individual acting.