SUBMITTED PHOTO Coached by Brent Speraw, Perry Meridian Middle School’s speech team earned its best finish in nine years at Cathedral High School’s Martin Luther King Invitational Meet by garnering second-place honors. First-place finishes were achieved by Cara Geoghagan in prose, Moses Mang in radio, Lainey Scifres in poetry, Maggie Sears in discussion and Daisy Robles in original oratory. The Mustangs rounded out the top three spots in radio with Evan Eells and Sasha Sears taking second and third, respectively. Rachel Harper and Kate Rogers tied for second in humor, with Kate also being runner-up in prose. Other top finishers were Ava Ward, third, drama; in duet, Piper Clark and Farrell Jackson finished second, Grant Christian and Sean Smith, fourth; Lainey Scifres and Meredith Cash, fifth; and Diana Pyle and Alexis Ellis, seventh. Meredith Cash, Nun Za Lian and Jazmin Roembke finished second, third and seventh, respectively, in impromptu speaking. In original oratory, Robby Simms placed fourth; Charity Merrill, seventh; Allyson Haver, eighth; and Gillian Heizman, ninth. Sam Hoke, placed seventh in discussion while Timothy Trobridge finished ninth. Elise Houke was eighth in poetry.

Central Elementary in Beech Grove collected 3,327 single-serve drink mix packets for troops overseas. School counselor Trudi Wolfe first established a goal of collecting 1,000 packets, but upon seeing an overwhelming response from pupils and their families, she increased the goal to 2,000, which was easily surpassed. Emme Buckler (from left), Selena Ebbing and Rylee Blocker were among the top donors.