On April 3 and 6, Carnegie students participated in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Academic tournaments at James Madison High School to qualify for regionals. Upon arrival for the UIL meet, the students met up in the cafeteria for the meeting, where over 100 students were gathered to compete in a variety of events. The room was a sea of Cardinals, Texans, Rhinos, and more. Yet, Carnegie won the most overall points, scoring 518 in total.

Natalie Ho, a sophomore and a first-time competitor in UIL won first place in Feature Writing and third place in Copy Editing. Additionally, she advanced to Regionals as a team with two other students for Literary Criticism, Science, and Computer Science. In Feature Writing, participants are tasked with digesting and prioritizing information swiftly to write clear, accurate, and succinct articles. This contest not only emphasizes journalistic writing skills common to other UIL journalism events but also hones the ability to craft engaging and descriptive narratives.

“It was my first time competing in UIL, so I was a bit nervous. For Feature Writing, I reviewed the UIL handbook for the event and followed their format exactly as I remembered. However, I had to finish Literary Criticism early to make it to my computer science event, so I was a bit nervous about the results,” said Ho.

Another sophomore, Krish Jha, will be competing with Natalie as a team in Computer Science and Science at regionals. The event is a competition where students demonstrate their knowledge and skills in various aspects of computer science. Participants typically solve problems related to algorithms, programming, data structures, and computational thinking. The event often includes both written exams and programming challenges, testing students’ understanding of fundamental concepts as well as their ability to apply them in real-world scenarios. The Science contest challenges high school students in biology, chemistry, and physics. It emphasizes understanding experimental significance over memorization, staying updated on scientific discoveries, grasping basic principles, and fostering enthusiasm for science’s impact on daily life. The contest includes a two-hour objective test with 60 questions—20 from each subject.

Siddharth Dasari, Abhiram Jyosula, Julian Nguyen, and Oduna Akonzee will advance to regionals for Social Studies as a team. They swept the event, winning first through fourth place respectively. This year, the Social Studies competition focuses on “Modern South Asia: The People, Places, and Politics of the Subcontinent (1857-Present).” High school students participating in the contest will tackle 45 objective questions and an essay, drawing on a comprehensive reading list led by the primary selection, “His Majesty’s Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India’s Struggle against Empire.”

“For Current Events, I tried to stay updated on the news every day by listening to radio stations like NPR or reading Apple News. The event doesn’t just focus on domestic events, so that was a bit challenging. I had never competed in social studies before, but I was able to place third by using my existing knowledge of history and I hope that we can win the state competition,” said Nguyen.

Aside from being a team champion for Social Studies, Oduna Akonzee was the first-place winner in Spelling and Vocabulary. The University Interscholastic League (UIL) Spelling and Vocabulary Contest presents a rigorous test each year, revolving around a unique vocabulary list. The contest is divided into three parts: the first section includes a 15-minute, 30-item multiple-choice test focusing on vocabulary and proofreading.

“I created a Quizlet for all 350 required vocabulary terms and tried to study them for 30 minutes a day. It was very difficult, but I liked to learn new vocabulary words and implement them into my daily life,” said Akonzee.

Students from the CVHS UIL Academics team will be competing in a regional tournament at Seven Lakes High School on April 26 and April 27; those who place top 3 at regionals will advance to the State tournament held later on in the spring.