On March 25th, a group Jesuit students competed in the annual UIL Academics District Competition. This competition consists of nearly two dozen events. For this year, Jesuit competed in six of these events: Calculator Applications, Current Issues & Events, Mathematics, Number Sense, Ready Writing, and Spelling. Also, this year marked a new change as Highland Park’s realignment to 7-6A indicates that Jesuit will have a new, formidable opponent.
CALCULATOR APPLICATIONS
The calculator applications test consists of 70 mathematical questions that are solved with a calculator. Half of these questions are numerical, while the other half involve stated and geometry topics.
Facing off against rival schools like Irving MacArthur and Highland Park, Sai Gujjarlapudi ‘23, Elliott Huang ‘23, and Neel Manne ‘25 represented Jesuit in the calculator applications event. The team was coached by Mr. Billingham. Battling 18 individuals from 4 different schools (Irving, MacArthur, HP, & Richardson), the Jesuit team placed 3rd as a team with a total of 278 points, finishing behind Highland Park and Irving MacArthur.
CURRENT ISSUES & EVENTS
The current issues and events test requires students to complete a 40-question multiple choice section and an essay prompt in 60 minutes.
Coached by Mr. Yohannes, the Jesuit current events had four members, two of which are seasoned veterans from last year’s competition. Other than myself, the team consisted of Elliott Huang ‘23, William Spicer ‘24, and Daniel Mansur ‘23. In the end, the Jesuit team earned 2nd place, finishing higher than Irving and Irving Nimitz and only 15 points behind Highland Park.
“This year’s current events competition saw the return of two veterans and arrival of two new students. I am very proud of how the team collaborated together to best prepare for the event. Even though we did not earn 1st place like last year, I believe that it is important to learn from this experience and recognize necessary improvements.” – Mr. Yohannes
MATHEMATICS
The mathematics test involves a 40-minute multiple choice exam with 60 questions from algebra to statistics.
Coached by Mr. Billingham, the Jesuit team consisted of a senior duo of Elliott Huang and Aldo Avila. After the exam, Elliott and Aldo finished 10th and 13th respectively.
NUMBER SENSE
The term “number sense” can be quite deceiving. The reason is that the Number Sense event requires competitors to answer 80 mental math questions covering all high school mathematics in a span of 10 minutes.
After this arduous undertaking, Sai Gujjarlapudi ‘23 and Neel Manne ‘25 – competed in the calculator applications event – finished 8th and 17th respectively.
READY WRITING
This event gives students two hours to write expository compositions. The students decide to write an essay over one of the two prompts. These prompts consist of excerpts from literature, past and present publications, and speeches. This year’s prompts are two quotes from Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mahatma Gandhi.
Competitors James McKinney ‘23, Grant Cooper ‘24, and Luke Santoni ‘24 were coached by Mrs. Farrell. James earned 2nd place and qualified for regionals, while Grant secured a solid 5th place.
Following the competition, Mrs. Farrell noted that “she was happy to say how her preparation of her students was successful because of the incredible vertical alignment in the English department, which eased the preparation process.”
SPELLING
This event consists of a three-part test. The first part is a 15-minute section of 30 multiple choice questions focused on vocabulary and proofreading. The second and third sections concentrate on a student’s spelling skills.
“My preparation process for the Spring District Meet began all the way back in August. For Spelling, I would meet with Mr. Nielsen every Friday morning for about half an hour. In the weeks leading up to the meet, we started to meet twice a week, adding in Mondays before school.” – Elliott Huang ’23
Coached by Mr. Nielsen, Elliott Huang ‘23 was the sole representative of Jesuit Dallas in the spelling competition against a dozen competitors. However, Elliott won his event with a total of 56 points, topping his Highland Park foes by double digits.
FACULTY THOUGHTS
Mrs. Farrell: “For preparation, I only have to show the students prior prompts and prior winning essays from our students. Upon studying these prompts and essays, they see the slight difference in what’s expected at the competition vs. what we expect as English teachers.”
Mr. Yohannes: “One important thing to realize is that competition is not just physical, but also intellectual. UIL Academics allows students to use their rigorous intellect in a competitive environment. The more we realize that intellect can be used in competition, the more we feel encouraged to gain more knowledge.”
COMPETITORS’ THOUGHTS
Elliott Huang ‘23: “Although I took home 1st in the District Meet, I anticipate competition at regionals to be fierce and to that end will continue practicing and preparing for the contest whenever I can.”
James McKinney ‘23: “I was extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to compete in the event, and felt that all of the practice throughout my English classes at Jesuit had prepared me well to be able to meet the standards the judges were looking for in the essays. After this first experience, I hope to prepare for the next round by assessing the feedback left on my district submission, as well as further analyzing prompts given in previous years.”
Grant Cooper ‘24: “I thought that this year’s prompt options (Eisenhower discussing concentration camps and Gandhi discussing tyranny) were very interesting as their open-ended nature allowed the writer a lot of freedom when deciding the topic of their essay. I chose to respond to the tyranny prompt and the self-destructive flaws inherent within such a system.”
William Spicer ‘24: “Regarding difficulty, the competition was very similar to last year’s. Despite facing obstacles from some of the questions and essay prompts, we were able to place 2nd as a team. Now, we hope to be designated as the regional wild card and continue to compete in regionals.”
CONCLUSION
As the core group of seniors graduate this May, the UIL Academics team is in need of new members. As a two-year competitor myself, I highly recommend this to everyone! If you are interested in joining, please contact Mrs. Farrell (mfarrell@jesuitcp.org).
“UIL Academics is a valuable experience for our students as they have an opportunity to step outside the comfortable environment at Jesuit and interact in an unfamiliar, yet challenging setting.” – Mrs. Farrell
This year, Elliott Huang and James McKinney will advance to the regional competition! Finally, congratulations to all Jesuit competitors and moderators for their hard work this year! Stay tuned for another article covering Jesuit students’ regional competition from April 21-22, 2023.
