UIL Academics competed on March 22 at the district meet hosted by Ennis High School. Eleven students placed in 11 different events; eight students advanced to regionals.
“We did really well,” UIL Academics Coordinator Amanda Sykes said. “We had a smaller team than in years past so it was hard to do well overall, but in the events we competed in I was really happy with how we performed.”
The contest included math, science, social studies, English and journalism categories. The first event began at 9:00 a.m. and the last one concluded around 4:30 p.m.
“I like the UIL days,” Ms. Sykes said. “I stay busy all day, [and] I have a good time.”
Several students participated in multiple different events at the meet, including senior Philip Glover. Glover competed in Calculator Applications, Computer Applications, Mathematics, Number Sense and Science. He advanced to regionals in Computer Applications after getting second place. This will be his third year attending the regional meet.
“I’m glad to be going back again,” Glover said. “It’s a great experience to get to do and be around so many people who share the same interests.”
Those who placed within the top three of their event advanced to regionals; fourth place serves as an alternate. The top three in each event at the regional academic meet, held on May 2 and 3 at the University of Texas, will advance to the state meet in Austin on May 19-21.
“I’d like to make state, but it’s not going to completely crush me if I don’t,” Glover said. “It’d be a great opportunity to go there and just know that I am one of the best in the state.”
UIL District Results
Calculator Applications-
3rd place team
Computer Applications-
2nd Philip Glover, 3rd Peeti Sithiyopasakul, 5th William Rodzewich
Computer Science-
3rd Soren Swanson, 4th Joey Leavell, 3rd place team
Current Events-
5th Breton Hawkins, 3rd place team
Literary Criticism-
3rd Autumn McGaha
Science-
6th Glover
Social Studies-
1st Sithiyopasakul, 2nd Katherine Daiy, 4th Austin Pursley, 1st place team
News Writing-
2nd Shalavé Cawley
Feature Writing-
2nd Brynnon Walker, 6th Cawley
Editorial-
3rd Walker
Headline-
4th Cawley
Journalism Team-
3rd place
