Clear Lake graduates named to UNI Homecoming court

(Above) Clear Lake High School graduates Lindsay Kearns (left) and Emily Phalen were members of the UNI Homecoming court.

by Katie Behr

This year the University of Northern Iowa recognized the student leadership that comes from Clear Lake schools by selecting not one, but two CLHS grads as candidates on their Homecoming court.

Emily Phalen, daughter of David and Jane Phalen, was an active member with the music and drama programs in high school. Following her graduation in 2015 she started her years at UNI and her membership with the Alpha Delta Pi sorority.  Emily is on the executive team for the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association and volunteers with Advocates 4 Alzheimer’s Awareness.

Clear Lakers may remember Emily from several acting performances in town during high school. Notably, she portrayed “Dorothy” in The Wizard of Oz. Emily says, “The Homecoming theme really comes full circle with me, (There’s No Place like Homecoming) because I get to wear my Dorothy shoes in my sorority’s part of the Spirit Cry,” a UNI Homecoming tradition.  For Emily, the highlight of this experience is getting to know the other student leaders on the court.

Lindsay Kearns, daughter of Pam and Dwayne Kearns, says she has participated in Homecoming in different ways every year at UNI.  This year she will relinquish her spot in the band in favor of recognition on the court, but spends most game days playing sousaphone with the Panther Marching Band. Clearly a music lover, she represented her high school marching band as band queen her senior year.

Both girls are attending UNI for Communication Sciences and Disorders. Lindsay will start the graduate program for Speech Language Pathology this spring.