Rhonda Alves
Assistant Academic Director
Though a few weeks are left in the school year, the signs of summer vacation are everywhere. People yawn a lot, the temperature has already hit 80 and seniors with graduation on their minds are driving cars with shoe-polished windows.
Another class exits your life leaving behind a little sadness and a lot of relief. It’s a time for exhalation and reflection. That sort of, "okay...let’s see..." time of the year.
Over 2,700 campuses competed in UIL district meets this year, quite a few of those for the first time. New test writers wrote four elementary and junior high contests and the inevitable adjustment that goes with change. Ready writing topics which created an uproar, calls from schools whose students won medals and calls from schools attending district meets in which mistakes were made were also part of the year. There was a mixed bag of results in the elementary/junior high folks.
Early in my teaching career, UIL chose a Lincoln- Douglas debate topic that appalled me. I wrote a scathing letter to the speech director at that time. My students weren’t going to debate that odious topic! The director responded wisely: was I sure there was nothing to learn from the debate topic? I certainly did not think so at the time, but 17 years later I understand the lesson: I should have kept my mouth shut because someday I would be the person to whom people would complain about topics.
Thomas Edison once said, "Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work." He was singing my song. Some of the ready writing topics weren’t age-appropriate, the new edition of the Nystrom Desk Atlas issued in late fall set everything on its ear, and number 34 was nowhere to be seen on the answer sheet for one of the math tests.
The good part is that I’ve received several ideas for prompts along with discovering "several thousand things that won’t work." How about some topic ideas for impromptu speaking? I do appreciate that you care enough about your students to let me know when something is rotten in Denmark with one of the contests.
I count among the year’s successes the fact that more children participated in UIL elementary/junior high activities than in any previous year, and that many of you let me know that things went well.
My son competed in the storytelling contest this year, and as I sat in the school cafeteria while he "storied," I watched people. Kids were loud, teachers visited and parents chewed their nails. I chewed mine, too. Of course, I frequently chew my nails.
People were having fun. I enjoyed viewing the experience from a different vantage point. I was the parent rather than the director, and what I saw confirmed what I’ve always believed -- participation in UIL activities is good for children, teachers and parents. The educational and interpersonal nature of the experience outweighs not advancing to finals or winning a medal.
I’ll avoid the several thousand things that I now know won’t work, and you’ll get a brand new crop of potential Lawrence Oliviers or Albert Einsteins in the fall. I can’t promise that you won’t encounter something you don’t like, but I can promise that contest directors and test writers will continue to strive for excellence just as you will with your students.
After my son and I left the district meet and the tears he shed because he didn’t win a medal had dried, he looked at me really seriously and said, "I’m a UIL winner because I was on the team."
This UIL mom had tears in her eyes. Okay, I know a couple of thousand things that do work, and so do you! Have a great summer.