Kickstarting the yearly academic competition season, students from the district competed at Wimberley High School on Jan. 25 for UIL state.The next competition is at Canyon High School on Feb. 8.

“I didn’t know entirely what to expect because I had never coordinated it before,” UIL coordinator Amy Armatta said. “But I feel like as a whole we did really well. I was really proud of all of the kids who showed up, especially because we didn’t have as much time to prepare as the other schools did, and so I was proud of the kids who tried something new at the last minute. And a lot of kids ended up being successful.”

University Interscholastic League (UIL) is a special organization orchestrated once a year provisioned for Texas schools where students can challenge their academic professions with competitive play. It serves as a means of preparation for chief courses, striving for the best scholastic performances that benefit high schoolers’ achievement. 

“I felt pretty good about it,” social studies and current events contestant freshman Aiden Uballe said. “It was my first competition as a freshman now, and I didn’t really have any study materials because I joined a week ago so it was challenging. But I felt pretty good about it. It was fun for my first UIL.”

Categories including accounting, journalism, computer science written and hands-on, calculator applications, social studies, mathematics, current issues and events, literary criticism, science, spelling, and number sense were played for the chance of three runner-ups and three top finalists for each bracket. Champions that got fourth to sixth place adorned bronze and silver medals around the head, while first to third place weighed gold trophies in hand. 

“I felt like it was well organized,” accounting and social studies contestant junior Holden Castillo said. “In middle school, I competed in some but those were mostly virtual because of COVID. So this was one of the first times I came in person for one of these, and it was a fun experience.”

Contestants Holden Castillo, Daniella Moreno, and Avery Humphries all placed in top finalists for their respective categories. Moreno placed second in Feature and third in headline writing, Humpries second in news and first in feature Writing, and Castillo first in accounting and social studies. 

 “I didn’t get my results back for my first contest until after I came back from my second one,” Castillo said. “I saw my coach holding a trophy, I got excited, and he told me I got first place.”

For students to join UIL academics, they must get in touch with their instructor to sign up for events and have them registered in the system. Eligibility standards consist of being regularly in attendance, in compliance with state law, enrolled in high school for four years, and meet no violations.

“I’m going to be at the next meet, but I’m also going to do it the next four years,” Uballe said “‘I really like the feeling of it. Not like being competitive, but just challenging myself.”