The UIL Academic Team competed at the Port Neches-Groves practice meet on Saturday, Feb. 11 and brought home  a total of 23 medals. They had many academic teams and individuals place and are one step closer to their goal of dominating the district meet.

The computer science team took home the first place title. Senior Thomas King placed first, sophomore Nick Muggleston placed second, senior Tyler Wolfford placed third, senior Matthew Cox placed fourth, junior Lucas Russell placed fifth, and sophomore Derrick Martin placed sixth. This is the third meet this year in which the team earned first place.

“I have success in computer science by being conscious mainly, looking at my mistakes and improving upon them,” Cox said.

The speech team brought home second place. In persuasive speaking, junior Aman Tejani placed second and freshman Kierra Figgins placed fourth. Figgins also placed third in LD debate. In informative speaking, sophomore Akhil Tejani placed fourth and sophomore Nyah Patel placed sixth.

“I participate in informative speaking because it increases my confidence in public speaking,” Patel said. “I enjoy getting to express my opinions on specific topics, and its rewarding to get positive feedback from the judges.”

The academic team had numerous individual placements. Sophomore Chandler Barr placed third in science. Junior Katie Arabie placed sixth in accounting. Senior JoLynn Homin placed fifth in editorial writing. Freshman Sydney Bowman placed sixth in headline writing.

“I like that I can provide an opinion in editorial writing,” Homin said. “You have to apply reasoning and you have to think logically about the best solution to a problem. It is creative and kind of freeing to write even though it’s not free writing.”

The mathematics team along with the number sense team won first place. In mathematics, King won first in mathematics and number sense, Barr placed second in mathematics and fifth in number sense, and senior Cody Girouard placed fourth in mathematics.

“I like mathematics UIL because our team usually wins and the competitiveness makes it fun,” King said.

The academic team’s next competition will be on Mar. 4 in Sabine Pass. The students and coaches are very committed to their events and they have high hopes for success and improvement at upcoming meets.

“I love coaching journalism not only because I love journalism in general, but because my students are passionate about what they do,” Journalism coach Lindsey Fruge said. “They are always working to get better and improve at each practice meet. I have the best group of students on my team this year.”

The UIL Academic season has officially begun as the team brought home the Sweepstakes title from the Nederland Practice Academic Meet on Saturday, Jan. 28 and also earned many team and individual medals. 

The journalism team took home the first place title in the small school division. Senior Autumn Rendall placed fifth in headline writing and third in editorial writing. Junior Alora Jones placed second in editorial writing. Senior Valen Elliott placed second in news writing. Lastly, senior Bailey Noah placed fourth in feature writing, second in headline writing, and first place in news writing. This is the second meet this year in which the team has earned first place.

“I enjoy being able to compete individually with the best of writers in our area,” Noah said. “It allows me to see my weak points in my writing and fix them the next time around. Having 45 minutes of pure silence and creativity is the best brain therapy for me. Without UIL, I doubt I would have that kind of willpower to do that on my own.”

The Computer Science team placed first overall. Sophomore Dajhuan Myles placed sixth, senior Chris Cook placed fifth, sophomore Nick Muggleston placed third, senior Tyler Wolfford placed second, and senior Thomas King finished in first place. 

“My hopes for UIL are for the number sense, mathematics, and computer science teams to be able to advance to state,” Cook said.

The mathematics team placed first overall, while also taking up four of the top six spots. Senior Sydney Smith placed fifth, Cook placed fourth, junior Chandler Barr placed third, and King again took the top spot.

“I love the competitiveness between us,” Smith said. “It’s fun when Thomas messes up and we can all joke about it.”

In other math events, King placed fourth in calculator. In number sense, senior Cody Girouard placed sixth, Cook placed fourth, Barr placed third, and King placed first. The number sense team altogether took home the first place spot.

“To win it takes weeks and weeks and weeks of practice,” King said. “I average at around six medals per meet.”

The academic team had numerous individual placements. Barr placed second in science and was the top chemistry test-taker. In persuasive speaking, freshman Kierra Figgins placed fourth, while sophomore Akhil Tejani placed first in informative speaking. In CX Debate, Akhil and Aman Tejani were the first place duo. In ready writing, Jones placed sixth. Jones said she gets more out of UIL writing than just the medals.

“UIL is a way to expand your mind and creativity, while also connecting with other schools on an intellectual level,” Jones said.

The academic team’s next competition will be on Feb. 11 at Port Neches-Groves High School. The students hope to be successful and get more practice in preparation for the District meet in March.

“The thing I like most about UIL is not the accomplishments it brings, but the work ethic that one can gain from it,” Cook said.