Academics News
Page 17 of 18 pages ‹ First < 15 16 17 18 >
Elite 100 Models What Academic Coaches Do Every Year
By Treva Dayton | Thursday, August 13, 2009 12:12 PM
Welcome back to another school year! We hope it is a truly successful one, and that UIL participation provides wonderful challenges and educational experiences for you and your students. We, at the League, are especially excited, as we will be celebrating UIL’s 100th birthday. Our Centennial Celebration will include a variety of activities throughout the year, and our member schools, coaches, advisors, directors, coordinators, students and former competitors will all have the opportunity to participate. Please see our Centennial website at www.uil100.org for our updated archives, great photos and events and activities as they are posted.
We kicked off our celebration with the Elite 100 Student Leadership Conference on the UT Austin campus in June. The conference brought together 100 outstanding Texas high school students, who attended workshops on leadership, communication, conflict management, community service, self-analysis and working effectively with others. Students also participated in a community service project at one of three local school campuses and worked in teams to provide input about what they felt UIL should become in the future.
Journalism Skills Help Find Answers on Peanut Allergy Journey
By Jeanne Acton | Thursday, August 13, 2009 12:05 PM
Our peanut journey started more than a year ago.
When my two-year-old son was diagnosed with the allergy, I went a little nuts. Yeah, I know — the play on words is a little much, but it is the truth.
You may remember I wrote a column documenting my slip into insanity and my transition back to reality. The bottom line was, his life-threatening diagnosis reminded me to keep life in perspective.
Since that column, I’ve had numerous calls and well wishes from journalism teachers across the state.
You really are an amazing support group.
Since I shared the initial diagnosis with you, I wanted to share the latest news. My little guy is almost free from his peanut/nut allergy.
It’s been a long journey and a somewhat expensive one but definitely well worth it.
A+ Academics: Reminders to Start the New Year
By David Trussell | Thursday, August 13, 2009 12:03 PM
Not only do summers in Texas seem to get hotter every year, they also seem to get shorter, at least in terms of having a break between school years. It hasn’t been that long ago that we were wrapping up 2008-09, but here we are with a new school year already upon us. Following are some important items to keep in mind as you begin your preparations for this year’s A+ competitions.
Registration
Every school that participates in the A+ Program must register with the state office every year. This is how we keep our contact information current, and how we are able to send you a complimentary copy of the new A+ Handbook. You can find the online registration form at www.uil.utexas.edu/academics/aplus. With online registration, you can search for your school, view the information we have on file and send us only any changes that are needed (new UIL coordinator, new principal, etc.). You also receive an immediate confirmation that your form has been received, as well as a follow-up e-mail a few days later.
The deadline for participation registration is Nov. 15. If your school is in an ISD with at least one UIL member high school, there are no separate membership fees for A+ participation. If you do not have a member high school, contact the UIL office for membership information.
Feature Speaker, Mother Shine at Academic State Meet
By Jeanne Acton | Monday, June 01, 2009 12:45 PM
Photo by Jeanne Acton
If you missed the UIL Academic State Meet this year, you missed something special.
If you asked the teenage girls, that something special was 27-year-old Jared Padalecki, star of Supernatural and former regular on Gilmore Girls. He was our feature speaker this year.
Rather than attempt to describe his looks in detail. After all, I am pushing 40 and don’t want you to think I’m a cougar, so I’ll simply state the facts. He is tall. He is lean and muscular, and he is tanned.
Not surprisingly, he’s been selected to two or three “sexiest celebrity” lists.
The girls and several of the advisers and a couple of the judges went all jello over him.
In fact, he was so intimidating that I wasn’t sure if any student was going to snap out of the star-struck state to ask a question. Luckily, Jared is an easy-going guy, and he quickly put the crowd at ease.
Governor Holds Teleconference With High School Journalists
By Jeanne Acton | Wednesday, May 27, 2009 12:50 PM
Two weeks ago I received a call from the governor’s office. Not exactly a call I was expecting.
But definitely a good call — especially for high school journalists across the state.
The governor’s office wanted to set up a teleconference call with high school newspaper editors and writers.
I blasted all 300-plus members of ILPC about the teleconference, and immediately advisers were excited about the opportunity for their students.
Changes Coming in Fall 2009 for Computer Applications Contest
By | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 1:00 PM
Being a contest directly related to technology, Computer Applications promises to be an ever-changing entity. For the past year, information has been disseminated that the Computer Applications Contest will support only Office 2007 starting in the fall of 2009. Now is the time to be certain that your schools have Office 2007 for competition next fall.
Being directly linked to Microsoft Office, this contest must change as this application package changes. As students graduate into the workplace or into college, they are better prepared to compete with the current skills of Office 2007, which has already been in the marketplace for two years, instead of fettering them to Office 2003. Office 2007 operates in a very different environment than Office 2003, and these changes have impacted the contest. Many elements have changed their appearance and operation. Many have been added, and several elements have been discontinued in this transition. For the past two years, the contest has supported both platforms. This has impacted the tests which have included instructions for both platforms and printouts for both platforms whenever these have varied, and variances in the grading to encompass both platforms.
Journalism Director Wins Paschal Award
By Staff | Wednesday, April 15, 2009 1:08 PM
UIL Journalism Director and Interscholastic League Press Conference Director Jeanne Acton accepts the James Paschal Award at the the Columbia Scholastic Press Associaton's spring convention in New York City. CSPA honors state or regional school press association officials who have distinguished themselves in the field with with the award named for the late James Frederick Paschal, a former director of the Oklahoma Interscholastic Press Association and a former editor of The CSPAA Bulletin.
Nation Chooses Poverty as 2009-2010 Policy Debate Topic
By Jana Riggins | Thursday, January 29, 2009 11:12 AM
The people have spoken. The vote is in. Results from national balloting conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations confirm that cross-examination debaters in 2009 – 2010 will debate the topic: Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.
Ballots were first sent to states, the District of Columbia, the National Forensic League, National Debate Coaches Association and the National Catholic Forensic League last August with five topics included on the ballot: space, healthcare, immigration, poverty, and federal elections. The voting was intensely close with the top two vote getters, health care and poverty, then placed on a final ballot.
Theatrical Design Contest Winners Announced
By Luis Munoz | Friday, January 16, 2009 11:18 AM
Entries for this year’s Theatrical Design Contest exceeded 200 entries. The entries were judged by Kelly Draper, Lamar University; Theresa May, UT Press; Ron Dodson, Austin; Paula Rodriguez, San Antonio College; Tracy Mask Marlowe, Creative Noggin; and Phil Johnson, Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Our thanks to our adjudicators and congratulations to the state qualifiers. State Qualifiers will receive instructions sometime in February. Non-advancing entries will be returned with “critique CD” and certificate(s) in February. Some outstanding Components from non-advancing groups will be exhibited as non-competing entries at state.
STATE QUALIFIERS THEATRICAL DESIGN 2009
GROUP
1. Eastland High School – 2A
2. Harper High School – 2A
3. Henrietta High School – 2A
4. Judson High School – 5A
5. Leander High School – 5A
Texans Earn Top Awards at National Convention
By Jeanne Acton | Tuesday, December 02, 2008 9:56 AM
Texas has a few things to celebrate after the JEA/NSPA fall convention in St. Louis last month.
Former ILPC director and journalism adviser Randy Vonderheid was awarded JEA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is given to retirees for lifetime dedication to journalism education.
Two Texas newspapers and one broadcast program earned Pacemakers — The Stampede of Burges High School in El Paso and The Liberator of Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin. MHS-1 from McKinney High School won a Pacemaker in broadcast division.