High school students converge on UNI campus for statewide competitions
The University of Northern Iowa campus has been a hub of activity for high school students across Iowa this last week.
The action began with the annual Cedar Valley Family STEM Festival, drawing families from all across the Cedar Valley to the UNI-Dome for a one-of-a-kind STEM experience. Festival goers of all ages could enjoy hands-on learning activities from driving robots to flying flight simulators. This event is organized like a street festival or county fair, allowing visitors to stroll from one activity to the next to engage in educational and entertaining activities.
Next, nearly 2,000 students and coaches came from six states and two visiting countries to compete in the McLeod Center and UNI-Dome for the FIRST Robotics Competition, the highest level of high school competitive robotics in the world and the only FIRST Robotics Competition in the state of Iowa. Each FIRST Robotics Competition features teams building and programming industrial-size robots to play a game that changes year to year.
And this past Monday, the finest high school orators and performers descended on campus to compete in the Iowa High School Speech Association All State Speech Festival. This annual gathering has become a tradition of excellence in the realm of speech and drama, drawing participants from far and wide to showcase their talents in areas such as acting, improv, musical theatre, poetry, storytelling and radio news. Next year’s edition of the IHSSA will mark a milestone occasion, as UNI proudly hosts the 45th installment of All State Speech in 2025.
