HHS students attended the UIL Student Activities Conference on Sept. 7th, at Tyler Junior College. A total of 23 students attended the conference, along with six UIL coaches.
“The UIL trip was a great opportunity to learn about the different events and prepare for competition,” U.S. history teacher Luke McGuire said.
During the conference, UIL students attended different sessions to learn more about their chosen event. There were five different sessions offered, with different classes spread throughout the campus.
“I’ve been doing this for all 4 years of high school,” senior Emma Hughes said. “Despite this not being the first time I’ve attended the UIL conference, I always feel like I bring back more insight into how I can improve myself in order to be a better competitor.”
Not only were there returning competitors, but new ones as well. Beginners were able to learn what UIL is truly about and why so many students choose to compete. They were informed about proper skills such as debating, writing, interpretation, acting, and more. Students traveled back and forth across the TJC campus, eager to gain new knowledge.
“It was an experience that was very noting and gave us helpful information to prepare for the contest,” freshman Jacob Owens said.
Coaches who attended the conference sat in for a few minutes of each session. They were excited for their students to learn more about the events they will be competing in and hope to see their students succeed within UIL.
“As coaches, we got to go to our own training session over the summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. So when the opportunity came for students to go, we were so excited,” Naomi Griffin, UIL Coordinator and Algebra II teacher, said. “I loved giving students the opportunities to learn more about specific events and how the contest works.”
