October 20, 2021

Former Decorah Community School District superintendent Mike Haluska was awarded the Administrator of the Year Award at the Iowa High School Speech Association (IHSSA) convention in Ames on Friday, October 15th. 

Haluska served from the fall of 2011 to the spring of 2019 on the IHSSA Executive Committee, made up of a group of administrators and one active IHSSA coach. The Committee reviews rules and applications of rules for Speech, Theatre, and Debate activity. Over 48,000 students are served by the Executive Committee in their applications of rulings and procedures for the IHSSA contest series.

“Being on Executive Committee was quite possibly the highlight of my career,” Haluska remarked. “The IHSSA is the one organization that truly brings together all of our young people. I saw everyone from the quarterback of the football team to the shy kid with enormous talent to a young lady from Decorah who was able to participate at the state level of competition via adaptive technology. Speech brings everyone together.”

“Finally,” Haluska continued, “I want to give a ‘shoutout’ to all the speech coaches in both Decorah and the entire state. I was fortunate enough to attend annually the NFHS National Conference where all student activities are represented. Iowa–and the leadership from IHSSA Executive Director Craig Ihnen–is the envy of the country. High school speech, as we all know it in Iowa, simply isn’t found in many states across the country. What they offer our young people, in terms of opportunities that bring about a true lifetime skill, is unsurpassed.”