On January 21st, UIL students participated in a practice meet at Whitehouse High School.

Students attended with UIL coaches, Blade Healey (Debate), Amanda Adair (Accounting), Arlie Bice (Current Events), Jessica Otte (Journalism), and Mark Kennedy (Computer Science).

Medalists included: Alesha Lewis who placed 2nd in Lincoln Douglas Debate and 5th in Informative Speaking, Payton Wages who placed 4th in Lincoln Douglas Debate, Patrick Bradley who placed 1st in Accounting, Paige Cobb who placed 3rd in Copy Editing (a brand new contest this year), Vanessa Gonzalez who placed 4th in Computer Applications, Alexis Sanchez who placed 5th in Accounting and 6th in Computer Science, Javier Pizarro who placed 4th in Current Issues/Events, and Isis Cosette De La Garza who placed 5th in Current Issues/Events.

“I am super excited about this year’s Journalism team,” said Otte. “We have some experienced veterans who are doing a great job at helping our new members. The first meet was a good indicator of what our competition will be at District.”

Students will compete in Hallsville on Feb. 11 and again in Longview on Feb. 18.

“I am really excited about the improvement we all have made,” said Gonzales. “I am ready to advance and make my school proud.”