Middle School Mock Trial:  On November 11, 22 students and 4 parents traveled to Council Bluffs for the Middle School Mock Trial Competition. The students worked together on the bus reviewing the points of the case. Some students were witnesses and needed to respond to both direct and cross questions. Direct questions are asked by the team's attorney to clearly bring out the points of the case. Cross questions are asked by the opposing team's attorney with the goal to bring out counter arguments that better support their version of the events. Students taking on the role of the attorney needed to first write the questions and then prepare for the trial itself. All the students worked very hard throughout September and October to prepare for the competitions. Team Gold, consisting of seventh and eighth graders, won both of the trials and placed 6th out of 19 teams. The sixth graders competing on Team Red did not place, but did very well facing older, more experienced teams.

Large Group Speech

Over 60 KHS students were involved in Large Group Speech activities this year. There were 17 groups who participated at district competition with 14 groups advancing to state competition. One group was selected for the All-State Festival at Iowa State University: KJSB radio news team featuring Jordan Knobbe, Eric Johnson, Tyler Sporrer, and Nick Brincks.

IHSSA Large Group Speech Overview: Approximately 24,000 Iowa high school students competed at the district level on January 23. They represented over 347 schools. Teams advanced to state competition on February 6. After the state competition, 126 Iowa high schools had groups named as Outstanding Performers, featuring less than 1,700 students. The All-State Festival was held on February 20 at the Iowa State Center in Ames. Ten groups received the Critic's Choice Award for being the top performer in their performance area in the State of Iowa. The recipient were determined by professionals in the respective performance fields. The Sweepstakes Award was awarded to the school with the most entries performing at the All-State Festival. Listed below are the recipients of the 2010 awards:

RADIO BROADCASTING -- Kuemper Catholic
ONE ACT-PLAY -- Pella Christian
READERS THEATRE -- Dubuque Senior
CHORAL READING -- Danville
ENSEMBLE ACTING -- North Scott
SOLO MIME -- Maharishi Upper
GROUP MIME -- WDM Valley
TELEVISION NEWSCASTING -- WDM Valley
GROUP IMPROV -- Bondurant-Farrar
MUSICAL THEATRE -- Des Moines Roosevelt
SWEEPSTAKES AWARD -- WDM Valley

Click here for more information about the KJSB radio team.

Individual Events Speech

Eight KHS students participated in the state competition on March 13. Performers and their ratings were: Sam Goetzinger (Radio News - 1), Ben Boeckman (Radio News - 2), Kim Lally (Prose - 1), Walter Pugh (Prose - 2) Brock Batz (Poetry - 2), Josh Foley (Improv - 2), Steph Venner (Acting - 1), and Kim Lally (Acting - 2).

Two Kuemper students received three 1-ratings from the three judges and were recommended for All-State. Nick Brincks was selected for the third time in Radio News, and Steph Venner was selected in Prose. The performance will be held on March 29 at UNI.

High School Mock Trial - 2010

KHS Mock Trial members competed in the state tournament on March 30-31 in Des Moines. The team finished with a 2-1 record. Kuemper was defeated in the first round by the defending state champions, Cedar Rapids Xavier. In the following two rounds, Kuemper defeated Dubuque Senior and Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln. Nathan Greving received All-State honors and an outstanding attorney medal. Chad Heiman, Jacob Buelt, and Hannah Riesberg received honorable mention distinction as attorneys. Nick Brinks and Beth Wittry received honorable mention distinction as witnesses.

Kuemper was also awarded the prestigious Judge Anthony Crittelli Award. This award is presented to the team that exhibits the most professional conduct, courtroom decorum, civility, and sportsmanship. Attending teams vote to determine the recipient. In the four years that the award has been given, Kuemper has received the award three times.

Destination ImagiNation - 2010

TBA