You might say it has been another banner year for the Dubuque Senior High School speech team.

Three of the team’s ensembles (in Group Mime, Musical Theatre, and Radio Broadcasting) claimed the Critic’s Choice Banners, presented by a theater professional to the top performance of the day in each of the 12 categories at the Iowa High School Speech Association (IHSSA) Large Group All-State Festival. The festival was held on February 22 at Iowa State University and 69 students represented Senior at the state’s flagship group speech event.

This is the 25th banner Senior has received in IHSSA history and the 13th in the past 11 years. It’s also the third time Senior was awarded three banners from one All-State Festival, achieving the honor in 1984 and 1987. The school will hold the banner for the next school year and return it to the All-State Festival for next year’s competition.

Banner recipients were:

Following are all of the All-State selections from the Dubuque Community School District:

Senior High School (Performing):
Ensemble Acting: “Romantic Fools,” “Independence,” and “Clybourne Park”
Group Mime: “Bystander”
Musical Theatre: “Next to Normal”
One Act Play: “The Laramie Project”
Radio Broadcasting: KMED and KJOY
Short Film: “Identity” and “An Open Letter”
Television Newscasting: “In Depth Dubuque”

Senior High School (Non-Performing)
Group Mime: “That’s How The Cookie Crumbles”
Readers Theatre: “Exchange Ray Bradbury”
Television Newscasting: KPEN Channel 7

Hempstead High School (Non-Performing)
Musical Theatre: “Cats”