Four teams of Gael students qualified through a recent district event and will compete on Saturday at Le Mars Community High School at state.

Emma Davis, Manuela Rodriguez, Zach Midtling, Denny Ehn, Briley Singer, Emily Mosier, Jonah Mosier and Nicole Mosier all qualified. Aiana Kirby and Ignatius Kirby also competed for St. Edmond.

“It was so fun to see their faces change from ‘anxious to get the results’ to ‘woohoo, we did it,'” speech coach Alyssa Sparks said.

The duos of Davis and Rodriguez and Midtling and Ehn advanced in musical theater. Davis and Rodriguez performed “Dear Evan Hansen” and Midtling and Ehn “Spongebob Squarepants.”

-Submitted photo
The St. Edmond speech group “Mosier Fam Fun” of Nicole, Jonah and Emily Mosier qualified for the state competition.

Singer and Rodriguez qualified in ensemble acting for “Swim or Drown,” while siblings Emily, Jonah and Nicole Mosier moved on in group improv for “Mosier Fam Fun.”

Midtling, Ehn, Singer, Aiana Kirby and Ignatius Kirby performed in short film, while Aiana Kirby and Ignatius Kirby competed in group improv.

“Students needed to choose which categories they wanted to perform in,” Sparks said. “There are different rules for each category and I worked with each group individually to choose just the right performance pieces and coached them on their presentation.

“Zach and Denny are goofy and fun and fit their characters well,” she added. “Emma and Manuela were torn between what they wanted to do, but we were all sold on their choice. All three groups received wonderful responses from their judges, who found their characters to be believable and enjoyable to watch.

“Our group improv teams worked to hone their skills and were a lot of fun in rehearsals and at the competition to create hilarious scenarios and continue to learn to work together to create fun characters and move their stories along.”

Sparks and the qualifying students will now work to prepare for the upcoming state competition.

“While at districts, each group received valuable feedback that will help make their presentations even better,” Sparks said. “We will spend our time before state fine-tuning our pieces even more and incorporating judges’ comments in each presentation.”