Photo by Dan Vander Beek

It’s a remarkable tradition of excellence in music at Pella High School that continued for Iowa’s premiere school at an annual competition held in Ames Tuesday. Pella Jazz I earned the school’s 20th ever state championship and third consecutive top trophy in Class 3A at the Iowa Jazz Championships. This is the 39th consecutive year that the program has had a top four finish out of the 15 schools that earn annual invitations based on performances held in the winter. Penny Shriver and Morgan Uitermarkt were selected as outstanding performers.