March 24, 2025
Lydia Weiler and Kaylee Higgins, take a bow!
We are incredibly proud to announce that the two Gilbert High School students have been selected to perform at the All-State Festival for individual speech on Monday, March 31, on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
This is the fourth all-state speech nomination for Weiler, a senior, and the first nomination for Higgins, a junior. Weiler earned her nod in Improv, while Weiler reached all-state status in Acting.
Their all-state nominations came following a successful day at the individual state speech competition, held at Ames High School, on Saturday, March 15.
GHS students received 14 Division I ratings overall, based on the average score of the three judges, and 20 of the 21 performances received at least one Division I rating.
Receiving overall Division I ratings at the state competition included:
- Alyse Beyer — Prose and Radio News Announcing
- Sam Ellingson — Acting
- Sabine Escalera — Improv
- Kate Hansen — Storytelling
- Ashley Heimer — Solo Musical Theatre
- Kaylee Higgins — Acting
- Maggie VanDyk — Storytelling and Acting
- Lydia Weiler — Improv and Solo Musical Theatre
- Molly Weiler — Literary Program
- Olivia White — Prose and Poetry
Congratulations to all of our speech students on a fantastic season and good luck to Lydia and Kaylee at the All-State Festival!
