Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s One Act team of Makenna Cooper, Megan Cooley, Emma Jo Fleshner, Karlie Rickert, Rachael Quackenbush, Zane Stice and Braden Vanderkolk were among the Rebels competing at the Large Group District Speech Competition at Waterloo West High School on Jan. 22. – Contributed photo

After weeks and months of choosing events and rehearsing parts, the Gladbrook-Reinbeck Large Group Speech team got the opportunity to leave it all on the stage last weekend.

The Rebels traveled to Waterloo West High School for the annual District Large Group Speech Contest on Saturday, Jan. 22.

G-R finished the day with two events that earned state-qualifying honors from their district speech judge. Those events include Group Improvisation featuring Paul Brockett, Emma Jo Fleshner, Wesley Latchman and Zane Stice; and Ensemble Acting featuring Amaya Peterson and Alex Rogers.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s two state qualifiers will head to Decorah High School on Feb. 5 to compete in the Northeast site along with students from more than 50 other schools.

Nominations to the All-State Large Group Festival will be announced online on the evening of Feb. 7. The Festival will take place on Feb. 19 at the Iowa State Center in Ames.

One of G-R’s state-qualifying large group speech events was the Ensemble Acting team featuring Amaya Peterson and Alex Rogers. Also qualifying for the state competition was the Group Improv team of Paul Brockett, Emma Jo Fleshner, Wesley Latchman and Zane Stice. – Contributed photo

Not long after the conclusion of the large group speech season, students will begin their work preparing for the individual speech contests taking place in late February and March.

Upcoming dates for the individual speech season include: District Individual Speech Contest, Feb. 26 (Union High School); State Individual Speech Contest, March 12 (Clear Lake High School); Individual Speech All-State Festival, Mar. 28 (Univ. of Northern Iowa).