Practice Perfection

The Dragon UIL academic teams had their first practice meet this past Saturday in Lindale.  Overall, the teams had a good turn out and strong showings. The next Speech and Debate practice meet is scheduled for November 16 in Center and the full academic team plans to attend the practice meet in Pine Tree the first weekend in December.  These meets along with after school practices are all to prepare for the district meet March 29 in Whitehouse.

“I like that we all help each other in our activities, make sure we understand the subject,” sophomore Yamilet Leon said.  “Whenever we go to meets and competitions, it’s really good to make friends and get the perspectives of other people from other schools.” 

UIL academics can be a way for students to get involved with students outside of their normal circle.  As teams begin to practice more and attend more meets, the energy goes up and students get excited to work. 


“You’re involved with your community and you get to go to other schools,” sophomore Geovani Centeno said. “Since my events are both English events, it helps with my English and writing and those are weak points for me.” 

While UIL does help you with your in school work, it also helps you succeed outside of the classroom. Senior, Jean Choi, who has experimented with all of the UIL events over the last 4 years over her high school career, agrees that UIL strengthens your weaknesses. 

“I think it’s kind of challenging,” Choi said.  “It pushes your boundaries, because it’s not really the same way you do school. It forces you to think creatively.  Mrs. Thomas is a really good coach and she’s also a very hard worker.”

Veronica York, who coaches several speaking events, is a former UIL student.  She has been coaching students since 2000 and took a team to the district UIL Congress meet this past Monday.  Her entire team of students advanced to finals and two students will continue on to compete at the state level in January.

“Practice perfection,” York said.  “Never practice poo poo. Always practice perfection. and that will get you far.”


To have an entire team advance to the finals round in a UIL event is rare.  This speaks to the hard work and dedication of the students involved.  Teams give up a lot of time after school to prepare for their events and most students who compete in academic events also participate in sports, band, and other clubs which can make scheduling difficult.

“I think UIL helps you to be very strategic one and two, I think it helps to bring professionalism out into the world and I think that therefore grows your maturity,” junior Cassinday Tieman said.  “I see so much growth in not only myself but my teammates.”

Coaches and students work hard on the dynamic of their teams. It is important to have real experiences in addition to just teaching tactics and techniques.  The experiences motivate students and coaches to take the extra time away from their families for UIL.

“This is about fun,” UIL coordinator and coach Kristin Thomas said.  “Yes, we’ve got to study, and yes, we want to be excellent but honest to goodness, listen.  If we’re not having fun, we’re not doing it right.”

Since teams spend so much time together, they need to bond and build a relationships as friends and family. UIL is more than just going straight to meets and straight back home, for many students it’s about making memories.

“The Congress team went to Hush Puppies in Henderson to celebrate,” senior Ja’Brandon Chatman said.   “One of the kids at the table said she felt that she never would find somewhere to belong in high school, and for her to say that she felt like she belonged with the congressional team really impacted us yesterday.”

Once students advance at the district level, the competition continues at the regional and state levels.  Students who compete at the state UIL competition qualify to apply for the Texas Interscholastic League Foundation (TILF) scholarships.

“My favorite memory is probably going to state in CX with Abigail last year, ’cause we had really good debates there,” Choi said. “Also, I have to give big props to my teammate this year, Nixon. He’s taking some initiative, trying out the waters of CX and he’s really doing an awesome job taking in everything and doing his part of the work.”

There is still time to join an academic UIL team for the current school year.  Some teams are just beginning to hold regular practice sessions after school.

“If you’re thinking about doing UIL, just jump in and do it,” spelling coach Jennifer Haveman said.  “Then it’s some work, but it’s with really fun people.  So, if you’re if you enjoy science or you enjoy social studies or you think you might enjoy spelling, come join us because you really don’t have anything to lose and the meets are a lot of fun with a lot of nice people and there is much to gain from the experience.”

The UIL academic teams available are accounting, mathematics, calculator, number sense, science, computer science, spelling and vocabulary, social studies, current events, journalism, literary criticism, ready writing, CX debate, Lincoln Douglas debate, prose, poetry, persuasive speaking, informative speaking, and UIL film.  See Mrs. Thomas in room 111 for more information.

“When we want to turn up, we do,” Thomas said.  “Because you know what? Do you know what a whole group of dragons is called? 
A thunder. A thunder of dragons. That is what we are.”