Heritage Students School Their Competition

UIL Academics Competes in Events.

Heritage+Students+School+Their+Competition

Maxie Eller, Newspaper Editor-In-Chief

On March 6, students participated in University Interscholastic League (UIL) academic competitions. Students competed in any of sixteen events testing their understanding of subjects that ranged from current events to science. The competitions lasted for the entire duration of the school day with results posted either later in the day or in the subsequent days to follow.

“I competed in UIL Current Events,” Kaleb McAlister (11) said. “For this event, we had to study up on worldwide news in all categories: weather, politics, the economy, sports, cultural events, and so on. For instance, I had to write about effects on the US from the Coronavirus.” 

Students spent many weeks before the competition studying material and practicing their skills in preparation for the event. 

“I competed in ready writing,” Abbi Melton (11) said. “Mrs. Ross did give us the rubric, example essays, suggestions on what we could do to help us, and prepared us in all the ways she could. I thought it would be a great opportunity to do something I love which is writing.” 

The events were created to test how well students could not only retain information but also how they could apply that information in a timed environment. 

“For me, some UIL events are easier than others, but all of the ones I competed in were pretty fun,” Cooper Lucas (11) said. “The most challenging event that I participated in his year was science as the test seemed significantly harder than some of the practice tests we have taken.”

Competitors are allowed to compete in multiple competitions to increase their chance of moving on in the competition and increasing their general knowledge. 

“I had to study people in Congress, Joe Biden’s appointed cabinet members, looked at information happening abroad, and I also had to just keep up to date with hot-topic issues,” McAlister said. “I chose to compete because I have been getting into everything happening outside of our little town and getting involved with our world.” 

Students who placed well in the district competitions will move on to regionals which will take place in the coming weeks. Those who place at regionals will then move on to the state competition. 

“Overall, I really enjoyed the event and look forward to competing at regionals,” Lucas said.