Despite the challenges faced this school year due to the pandemic, DHS students and teachers proved that nothing is impossible. This past weekend, three students from the UIL Academic squad became state champions for the first time.
“I am proud to say our Spelling and Vocabulary Team, consisting of Alyssa Trasporto, Madeline Ray and Declan Ayre, took first place and became state champions for all 5A schools,” UIL coach Seth Ross said.
The University Interscholastic League has Academic competitions in multiple events to provide the opportunity for students to learn more than what is in the classroom curriculum, and to compete against other schools in competitive academics.
“In the spring semester, there are invitational meets, a District meet, a Regional Meet (you qualify by winning first place team or top 3 individuals at District), and a State Meet (you qualify by placing as 1st place team or top 3 individuals at Regional),” UIL Academic coordinator Fred Mueller said.
DHS fielded teams at the District meet in Current Issues and Events, Spelling and Vocabulary, Science, Mathematics, Number Sense, Calculator, Literary Criticism, and Social Studies. DHS usually fields in additional events, but due to the pandemic, there was limited participation.
At District, the UIL Academic squad teams placed first in Spelling and Vocabulary and Literary Criticism, and placed individually in Science and Current Issues and Events. These students advanced to Regionals.
“We were extremely pleased and excited with the excellent performance by these scholars,” Ross said.
Due to the pandemic, the UIL Academic squad was forced to prepare for competition virtually,
“It was extremely difficult to prepare for competition. We improvised, adapted, and overcame and were able to get ready to compete,” Mueller said.
Despite this, their hard work and efforts were proven as they excelled in the Regional meet, advancing them to the State UIL Academic Meet.
“Regionals is an even greater challenge than District. Our Region contains some of the best academic teams in the state, so it is always a challenge to advance to the state championships,” Mueller said.
At State Championships, DHS secured its first state championship win at the UIL Academic meet, thanks to the Spelling and Vocabulary team. Junior Alyssa Trasporto also placed third individually against former National Spelling Bee finalists.
“We have gone to state for the last five years in Spelling and Vocabulary either as a team or individuals, but have never won the state championship. This was the culmination of years of work, and a team that has one of the strongest work ethics out there. It was extremely satisfying to win.” Ross said.
The DHS Academic UIL Squad will participate in the next school year’s UIL meets, “We are already thinking about the challenging competitors we will face.” Ross said.
