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The Coal City High School Speech team began its season with a strong performance at the Bloomington High School tournament on December 6. The team advanced 30 of its 57 entries to the final round and secured four individual titles as well as the overall team championship, finishing 46 points ahead of competitors.
Caroline Childers and Lexi Dearth won first place in dramatic duet acting, while Jordan Olson took the top spot in dramatic interpretation. Mason Hamilton was named champion in humorous interpretation for the varsity division. In the novice category, Cora Armstrong and Lexi Dearth were champions in humorous duet acting.
Additional varsity medalists included Theo Fritz and Mason Hamilton (second place, dramatic duet acting), Tess Jeschke (second, oratorical declamation), Brady Pierson (second, original comedy), Penny D’Arcy (second, prose), Xavier Baer (second, radio speaking), Jacob Cimino (third, informative speaking; fourth, extemporaneous speaking; sixth, special occasion speaking), Gabby VanDuyne and Theo Fritz (fourth, humorous duet acting), Jaiden Leman (fifth, extemporaneous speaking; sixth, original comedy), and Juliet Covington (fifth, original comedy).
Varsity finalists were Gabby VanDuyne in dramatic interpretation; Grey Vanek in humorous interpretation; Jaiden Leman and Xavier Baer in informative speaking; and Jolene Jones in poetry.
In novice events, medal winners included Xavier Baer (second place, radio speaking); Penny D’Arcy (second place prose; fourth place humorous interpretation); Brady Pierson (second place original comedy); Jolene Jones (third place special occasion speaking); Charlotte Banks (third place dramatic interpretation); Abi Rose (third place extemporaneous speaking); Emma Sinkular (fourth place oratorical declamation; sixth place informative speaking); Abi Rose and Brady Pierson (fourth place humorous duet acting); Cora Armstrong (fifth place oratorical declamation); and Kendall Shute (fifth place original oratory).
Coal City Community Unit School District 1 serves students from Grundy and Will counties through several schools including Coal City Early Childhood Center, Coal City Elementary School, Coal City High School, Coal City Intermediate School, and Coal City Middle School. More information about the district can be found at https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/.
According to state data from the Illinois State Board of Education available at https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/, the district employs 153 teachers with an average salary of $69,297 before pension contributions. The teaching staff is predominantly female at nearly 78 percent. No teacher has more than ten absences per year.
Demographically, students enrolled in Coal City Community Unit School District 1 are primarily White at nearly 87 percent. Hispanic students make up just under ten percent of enrollment while Black and Asian students each account for less than one percent. These figures are also reported by state education officials at https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/.
Financial records show that during 2020 the district spent $21,619 per student for a total expenditure of $47 million dollars according to https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/.
