(this is an archive story, refer to following byline for author name)
By Miguel Sesmas
In terms of overlooked subjects, our UIL (University Interscholastic League) academic teams have never gotten the attention they truly deserve. Events that competed at UIL were journalism, literacy criticism, spelling and vocabulary, current events, science and math..
Students start practicing for these events months in advance in hopes of advancing to regionals. They also participate in multiple competitions and online meets in preparation for their district meets.
In past years, our academic team has only consisted of a few individuals but has grown over time. With this growth have come many more achievements. Last year, we had over 10 students advance to regionals.
The program is now under new management with chemistry teacher Jamie Martin being head instructional coach as well as various new coaches.
On March 25, our UIL academics team competed in their annual district meet. We had five students place and three students advancing to regionals. These students are Toni Ogidan (advancing) , Morgan Munoz (advancing), Hannah Poff (advancing), Olivia Adkins (placed), and Lauren Holsapple (placed).
Ogidan placed first in literary criticism, Adkins placed sixth in headlines, Munoz and Poff placed second in oral interpretation (prose and poetry), and Holsapple placed fifth for spelling and vocabulary.
The students advancing to regionals will compete at Texas Tech University on April 21 and 22 in the hopes of advancing to state. Students who advance to state will meet at the University of Texas-Austin campus on May 17 and 18.