University Interscholastic League is a state-wide organization that provides students the opportunity to compete in programs/subjects they feel the strongest in. This year, the high school dominated the district academic competition, placing first out of every school and more than half the students moving on to Regional-level competition.
On March 24, eight different schools competed here for UIL District. Multiple coaches had students who are moving on to Region. The teacher with the most students moving forward is Computer Science Teacher and UIL Coordinator Colin Yeilding.
“This was the first year for [all] of my Computer Science students to compete at District and they were able to claim all six of the top placings,” Yeilding said. “To perform as they did, being first time District competitors and while under the pressure to advance to the Regional round, makes me very proud.”
Second place winner for Computer Science UIL, Lincoln Kolhagen, is one of the students eligible to compete at Region.
“I am somewhat excited to compete, but less so to travel to Lubbock,” Kolhagen said. “I believe there is always something that I could have done better, so it is important to always look at the mistakes I make during competitions.”
While Yeilding’s students all competed for the first time, other teachers had firsts for their students too. Journalism teacher Celeste Zachry had students place in all five of the Journalism events during District.
“I am unbelievably proud of my students,” Zachry said. “This is the first year, ever, that I will have a student participating in every one of my five journalism events at regional competition. Sometimes, I feel as if I am ‘accustomed’ to how great my students are, since they write for the newspaper all the time, so it’s very rewarding to see that other people also think they are stellar.”
Winning first place for News Writing and Headline Writing plus placing third in Feature Writing, Newspaper Reporter Emma Rodgers has improved herself in order to be able to make it to Region.
“I am very excited to compete in Regionals, as it will be my second year in a row,” Rodgers said. “I am very proud of myself. I’ve been working really hard since last year’s Regional competition to better myself, and I think it really shows.”
While others have had many firsts, Debate Teacher Angela Furtick has had her students place very highly for every competition she be involved with, and this year was nothing new.
“I am incredibly proud of our students for their outstanding achievements this season,” Furtick said. “Their talent, dedication, and relentless hard work have been truly inspiring. At the District level, JHS dominated CX Debate, securing first, second, and third place.”
One of these students who placed in CX debate was Shane Waits, winning first place, displaying amazing speech skills and dedication to do the best he can.
“I am generally pretty proud of myself,” Waits said. “There are always things to improve on, such as giving more detailed documentation, but overall I am satisfied with my efforts. I am thrilled to have gotten first place. Did I expect it? Not really, but sometimes life just gives you an opportunity and you [have] to take it.”
These students and their coaches will be competing in Lubbock, TX for Region on Saturday April 26. People can’t wait to see these excellent students perform at Region, possibly making it to state-level competition in Austin.
