Every year, students who are a part of this individual speech team are given the opportunity to earn an All-State Speech title from the Iowa High School Speech Association, which is the highest possible honor. 

Several students from multiple classes have earned this title this year and got the chance to perform their acts at All-State on Monday, March 27. This includes seniors Aleigha Ausman, Abbey Beal, Sami Clark, and Braelyn Ensor; juniors Luci Hopkins and Ryan Sales; and sophomores Alex Demuth and Aurelia Zylstra. The team is led by teachers in the English department, including Suzie Jones, Jessica Williams, Ashlee Whittington, and Nathan Mastbergen, who is a new addition to the team this year.

This year is senior Braelyn Ensor’s first year making All-State. She competed and qualified for the Musical Theater category. 

“It’s been an honor to get to go to All-State. The group of people I get to work with is an amazing group, and we’ve all worked really hard to get here,” said Ensor. “The judges were all professionals, so it was a really amazing experience to get to perform in front of them.”

Along with the seven other students who were accepted this year, many additional students from Pella High opted to go show their support while their cohorts performed. 

“There were a lot of us that made it this year, so we didn’t all get to watch each other perform since some of the performance times coincided,” said Ensor. “But everyone was super supportive, and it was a really great experience and environment.”