Decorah High School is hosting an Iowa High School Speech Association judge certification meeting on Saturday, October 21st at 10:00 am in the high school study hall for anyone interested in getting certified. The meeting also works as a recertification clinic for current judges who want a refresher or need to renew their license.
The speech department is always looking for judges–people who care about students, who want to help students gain communication skills, and who are up for having a lot of fun.
Even if a person has never been involved in speech before, help will be available to guide participants in learning about the variety of categories in speech and what the expectations are for judging such performances.
Certification is only $5.00, but judges get paid much more for their work during contests. Speech director Molly Holkesvik shared, “If this opportunity is even a bit intriguing to you, Decorah High School could use your help.”
The Decorah High School Vocal Music Department will present a fall choral concert at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, October 16 in the DHS Auditorium. The concert will feature four choirs: Ninth Grade Treble Clef Choir, Ninth Grade Bass Clef Choir, Viking Chorus, and Concert Choir.
Choirs will perform pieces by Elaine Hagenberg, G. F. Handel, W. A. Mozart, Jeffery Ames, Joni Mitchell, Victor Johnson, Jennaya Robison, and Nancy Hill Cobb. In addition, arrangements of the folksong “Uncle Joe” and the jazz standard “Fly Me to the Moon” will be performed.
The choirs are under the direction of Jason Rausch and Dean Beckman. The collaborative pianist is Chris Hadley. The public is welcome to attend this concert.
On , the Pride of the Vikings (POV) Marching Band will be performing at the Iowa High School Music Association’s Marching Band Festival. Their performance will take place at 11:25 am at the Waterloo Memorial Stadium at 1320 Katoski Drive, Waterloo, Iowa. After this performance, this year the marching band will continue to travel down to Muscatine High School, located at 2705 Cedar Street, Muscatine, Iowa, to compete at 7:45 pm at the Muskie Marching Invite. Admission for these performances are $10 adults, $7 for senior citizens (62+), and $5 K-12 students.
The POV Marching Band would also like to invite parents and the community to watch the band’s performance on October 6th at 2:30 pm at Viking Stadium. This performance will help prepare band members for the following day’s performances. The band is also extremely excited to have students from John Cline in attendance, too.
This year’s marching show is entitled “Thor’s Hammer” and features music from composer Randall Standridge. Soloists for this year’s show include Lucas Hanson, trombone; Aitor Cuevas, trumpet; Amelia Wadsworth, mellophone; Brenna Parker, alto saxophone; Jensen Korsness, color guard; and Alex McGohan, snare drum. The color guard choreography was created by Abigail Toussaint, Jensen Korsness, Evon Leitz, and Kiele Eberling. The drill was designed by Andrew Classen from Drake University.
The Pride of the Vikings marching band is under the direction of Dustin Bliven, Matt Cody, and Emily Hahn. The drumline is under the direction of Kassidy Steines, and the color guard is under the direction of Laurie Walter. This year’s drum majors are Elizabeth Pritchard and Grant Zilka.
Mr. Bliven stated, “This year’s marching band has been a blast. These wonderful musicians have worked hard all season yet haven’t been able to perform their show since September 1st. Because of this, we are really looking forward to our 2:30 pm community/John Cline performance and at the football game that evening. These performances will really help send us off the next day.”
Bliven continued, “We have added a lot of new aspects to our show this year that have included a higher intensity drill and electronics. The DHS band will be fully competing at the Muskie Marching Invite, which has not occurred in over 30 years. We feel this is a great beginning to build upon our wonderful history and traditions we have here at Decorah. We are looking forward to performing our best to wrap up our marching band season this Friday and Saturday.”
Decorah Community School District’s Music Booster’s Craft Show and Bake Sale will be held on Saturday, October 28th. This annual event is a major fundraiser for this group that supports music throughout Decorah schools.
Seven spots are still open for vendors of handmade crafts and four are left for non-handmade vendors.
On Friday at Decorah High School’s 2023 Homecoming coronation, Fisher Tweten, son of Jason and Tera Tweten, and Brynn Storhoff, daughter of Brent and Brigit Storhoff, were crowned Homecoming King and Queen.
On Thursday, September 14th, twenty-one members of the Decorah FFA attended the Tri-State Dairy and Ag Expo at NICC in Calmar. This event attracted over 470 FFA members from 39 chapters across Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Chapter members attended workshops, competed in contests, and enhanced career skills while attending the expo. Members of the Decorah FFA competed in the following contests: dairy cattle evaluation with oral reasons, dairy cattle evaluation with no-reasons, and dairy products evaluation.
Six Decorah FFA members competed in the Tri-State Dairy Expo and Northeast District FFA dairy cattle evaluation with reasons contests: Brinlee Courtney, Brody Courtney, Kiele Eberling, Anders Lovstuen, Mara Lovstuen, and Annika Schmelzer. The team consisting of Brody Courtney, Kiele Eberling, and Anders Lovstuen received 8th place overall in the tri-state dairy cattle evaluation contest and fourth place overall in the Northeast District FFA dairy evaluation contest. Anders Lovstuen and Brody Courtney placed first and tenth respectively in the Northeast District FFA dairy cattle evaluation contest.
The Decorah FFA also had eleven members participate in the dairy cattle evaluation contest with no-reasons. These members include Hadley Alexander, Andy Carolan, Madelynn Dahl, Jerikah Dodd, Karlie Einck, Braden Hemesath, William Kruse, Gabe Monroe, Isabella Schnitzler, Haley Stinson, and Thea Zidlicky. Two Decorah FFA teams placed in the top 10 in the Tri-State Dairy Expo Dairy Cattle Evaluation with no reasons contest. The team of Hadley Alexander, Madelynn Dahl, Gabe Monroe, and Isabella Schnitzler placed third overall, and the team of Jerikah Dodd, Karlie Einck, Thea Zidlicky, and Haley Stinson placed 10th overall. Gabe Monroe placed second as an individual in the Tri-State Dairy Expo cattle evaluation with no reasons contest.
Four members competed in the Tri-State Dairy and Ag Expo and Northeast Iowa FFA Milk Quality and Dairy Products Evaluation contests. Members were asked to evaluate milk quality, identify different types of cheese, and determine real versus imitation dairy products. The Decorah FFA members participating in these contests include Annika Brynsaas, Braunwyn Darrington, Ciara Wedmann, and Mara Wyatt.
The Decorah FFA had twenty-one members participate in Tri-State Dairy and Ag Expo at NICC in Calmar.
Pictured (left to right): Bottom Row: Ciara Wedmann, Madelynn Dahl, Hadley Alexander, Annika Brynsaas, Mara Wyatt, Brinlee Courtney, Kiele Eberling, Andy Carolan, and Anders Lovstuen
Back row: Brody Courtney, Gabe Monroe, Braunwyn Darrington, Mara Lovstuen, Isabella Schnitzler, Braden Hemesath, Karlie Einck, Thea Zidlicky, Annika Schmelzer, Jerikah Dodd, William Kruse, and Haley Stinson.
Anders Lovstuen (right) and Brody Courtney (left) placed first and tenth respectively in the Northeast District FFA dairy cattle evaluation contest.
The team consisting of Kiele Eberling, Brody Courtney, and Anders Lovstuen received 8 th place overall in the tri-state dairy cattle evaluation contest and fourth place overall in the Northeast District FFA dairy evaluation contest.
Homecoming week at Decorah High School will include the crowning of the 2023 king and queen.
Queen candidates from the senior class include Lydia Frank, daughter of Kyle and Jacki Frank; Sydney Kipp, daughter of Ryan Kipp and Jenny Kleiner; Naomi Simon, daughter of Matt Simon and Melissa Simon; Brynn Storhoff, daughter of Brent and Brigit Storhoff; Hayley Stowe, daughter of Haywood and Erika Stowe; and Yazmeen Whitsitt, daughter of Novian and Katherine Whitsitt.
King candidates from the senior class include Kelley Gates, son of Aaron Pattison and Megan Gates; Simon Kutz, son of Eric Kutz and Miko Kominami; Trey McCain, son of Kevin and Boots McCain; Creed Monroe, son of Darin and Sarah Monroe; Fisher Tweten, son of Jason and Tera Tweten; and Kaiden Youngblood, son of Harold and Dawn Youngblood.
Junior class attendants are McKenzie Riley, daughter of Adam and Jessica Riley, and William Hahn, son of Brent and Amanda Hahn.
Representing the sophomore class as attendants are Drew Zwart, daughter of Robert Zwart and Cheri White, and William Tallier, son of Aleksandra Tallier and the late William Tallier.
Jillian Volz, daughter of Daniel and Bethany Volz, and Carter Riley, son of Adam and Jessica Riley, will represent the class of 2027.
The coronation ceremony will be Friday afternoon with a pep assembly and parade to follow.
DHS Queen and King Candidates:
Front row (l-r): Kaiden Youngblood, Fisher Tweten, Creed Monroe, Kelley Gates, Simon Kutz and Trey McCain
Back row (l-r): Yazmeen Whitsitt, Sydney Kipp, Lydia Frank, Hayley Stowe, Naomi Simon, and Brynn Storhoff
9th-11th grade DHS Homecoming attendants:
Front row (l-r): Jillian Volz, Drew Zwart, and McKenzie Riley
Back row (l-r): Carter Riley, William Tallier, and William Hahn
Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of over 16,000 Semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Five Decorah High School students–Gabriel Hiner, Simon Kutz, Anders Lovstuen, Aidan Nalean-Carlson, and Henry Weis–are among those honored. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring.
High school students entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which serves as an initial screen of the program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 94 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and all National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists and will earn the Merit Scholar title.
A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Decorah High School National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalists (l-r): Aidan Nalean-Carlson, Simon Kutz, Anders Lovstuen, Gabriel Hiner, and Henry Weis
Homecoming week activities for Decorah High School students will commence with the Viking Olympics on Sunday, September 17. This event aims to encourage team building among students across all grade levels.
Each of the ten teams competing will consist of students from each grade level. They will apply their skills in trivia, kickball, pickleball, bags, and tug of war. A new feature this year will be a flag decorating contest. The students will design and decorate a flag that represents their team and school spirit. The flags will be presented during opening ceremonies of Viking Olympics and will then be displayed in school throughout the week. Proceeds from this event will be donated to the Decorah Community Food Pantry.
As the week continues, students and staff will have the opportunity to cheer on sports teams and celebrate school spirit. Monday the JV football team will face Independence here at home. On Tuesday the cross country teams and volleyball teams will travel to compete. Thursday the JV football team will play Mason City, again on home turf.
Friday will bring many elements of Homecoming together for a day and evening of fun and camaraderie. Students will attend the coronation ceremony in the afternoon where the Homecoming king and queen will be crowned. A pep rally will immediately follow the coronation.
The Homecoming parade will start at 2:30 p.m. at the high school and follow the traditional homecoming parade route down West Water Street and River Street.
It will be a clash on the gridiron as the Decorah Vikings take on the Riverhawks of Mason City High School at 7:30 p.m. The Decorah freshman football team will play at 5 p.m.
The Homecoming queen and king, their court, and their parents will be presented at halftime of the varsity game, along with a performance by the Decorah High School Pride of the Vikings marching band.
