March 29, 2024

The time is now

CCHS choral reading competitors are critic’s choice at All-State

As she stepped on stage Saturday at the Iowa State Center in Ames, Laura Granger said she was in tears, but to see her students cheering with their arms in the air and their hands forming hearts from their second row seats in the crowded theater of nearly 2,000 students, she felt an overwhelming sense of pride.

“It was amazing. I cried a lot,” said Granger, CCHS speech coach. “I don’t think people know how incredibly difficult it is to get the banner.”

The banner Granger refers to is one that is awarded by a single critic to the group or individual in a given category. To receive a banner at the festival is to say this individual or group is the best in the state.

“Essentially, it’s one person’s opinion,” said Granger. “Everything has to align and they have to identify with what we put out there, feel connected to it and feel like this group is the best,” said Granger.

Granger said the students who compete at this level are “top caliber,” and to compete at that level is an incredible feat in of itself.

The time is now

“I never thought that would actually happen,” said Granger.

In her 13 years of coaching speech, four of which have been at Creston, and four as a high school speech student herself, she knows how difficult, and seemingly impossible, it can feel to acquire a banner.

“So when it did happen, I was in shock and fell back,” said Granger.

Although CCHS students compete in speech at the state level nearly every academic year, the last time a banner was brought home was 22 years ago.

Under the direction of former CCHS teacher Jim Lippold, CCHS received banners in 1984 (Reader’s Theatre), 1994 (Reader’s Theatre and T.V. News) and 1997 (T.V. News). This is the first time CCHS has received the banner in Choral Reading.

The critic offered oral comments to justify the score. CCHS’s performance of “No Time to Wait” was delivered with “coherency” and “character.”

“Everything just meshed together,” said Granger. “It was a very challenging piece.”

‘The best experience’

Abbi Hood, CCHS junior, described choral reading as “the blending of voices together as one.”

Granger said the performance includes some singing and choreography like a “mini Broadway show.”

Foster McCutchan, who is one of the 10 newest choral readers to the team of 14, said the most difficult part of choral reading is performing in front of a crowd, but the team approach makes it easier to feel comfortable on stage.

“I feel like we bounce off of each other and there’s so much more energy as a large group than I would do individually,” said Hood.

“I work a lot on trying to pair people together that I think are going to work well together,” said Granger.

“It was the best experience of my life,” said Senior Clarissa Hoffman. “I felt so humbled to be chosen by one person. It was an amazing experience.”

‘No time to wait’

The script performed titled “No Time to Wait” was one written by Granger, in which she wrote original content fused with content written by her mother, Leslie Granger, and work by playwright Lindsay Price.

“It was kind of a compilation of different poetry pieces, plays, pop culture ... all on the general theme of there’s no time to wait.”

Granger said the piece was about living in the present.

“We have to take advantage of the here and now ... that things are not guaranteed, because you never know when it will change.”

A community performance of “No Time to Wait” will be performed during “Dessert Theatre” 6:30 p.m. March 12 at Creston Community High School.