How did you become involved with UIL?
I started coaching students in Number Sense and Slide Rule around 1978 in Eden. When Slide Rule was replaced by the Calculator Applications contest, I started coaching it. I coached Number Sense, Calculator Applications, Mathematics, Science and Computer Science at Sterling City. Eden and Sterling City are small class 1A schools. I worked mainly with the high school. However, I worked with the elementary and junior high kids as well. A good coach knows the importance of building a program from the lower grades, regardless of whether it is athletics or academics. I coached the math teams at Sterling City from 1983 to 1999 when I retired from public schools.I became the state Number Sense contest director and the Mathematics contest director in 2002. Filling the shoes of the past director, Don Skow, was not an easy chore. He did such a great job for many years with UIL. I am fortunate that he is still involved by proofing my tests and assisting me with possible questions and ideas. After retirement, I taught part-time for seven years at Angelo State University in the mathematics department. I helped develop and taught mathematics classes for elementary and middle school pre-service teachers. Currently, I am the Angelo State University MELL (Mathematics for English Language Learners) Initiative Director. ASU and the four other Texas State University Systems Institutions (Sam Houston, Lamar, Sul Ross, and Texas State) are involved in this initiative to try to find ways to improve teaching and learning mathematics for the limited English speaking students in Texas.
What do you do in your spare time?
I am retired and do enjoy it. I run my own computer business, building new systems, repairing systems, maintaining systems and troubleshooting all computer needs. I have my work with Angelo State and the MELL Initiative. I write math software to improve students’ number sense skills and assist in math learning. I golf, fish and hunt. I love to travel (especially to Las Vegas where I can test my theories on probability).I enjoy spending time visiting my boys. I enjoy spending time working on my four-acre Pecan Plantation (not too hard or too long ), and I love spending time with my wonderful wife of 39 years.In my spare time, I enjoy sitting under one of my pecan trees watching the sun go down, the moon and stars go up and the liquid in my glass going away.
What sort of preparation do you do for the Spring Meets? How long does it take you to make the tests for each meet and from where do the questions come?
I don’t do anything special for district and regional except write the tests for them. For the State Meet, I prepare seating arrangements, create lists of coaches for proofing and grading the contest. I plan what neat places I am going to eat while I’m in Austin. I do love Serrano’s and the Brick Oven. Ummmm! Good! A number sense test takes about 15 hours to complete. I write seven of them for UIL and three for TMSCA. A mathematics test takes about 72 hours to complete. I write seven of them for UIL and two for TMSCA.Number sense questions come from numerous sources. I make up some, steal some from the old days and get others where ever I find them. The main source for the mathematics questions is the high school math curriculum. The test questions come from general math, algebra, geometry, analysis, trigonometry, probability, calculus, and (my favorite) miscellaneous. I use the misc. section to introduce students to some concepts that they may not get to see in their classroom. I introduce these topics in the early practice tests. This way students can do research on the problems and prepare themselves for the Spring Meets. Tests for both contests are written in such a way that the students who work and practice should progress in scores and knowledge from early tests up to the final test at state. The state tests are an accumulation of the knowledge and skills achieved from the practice tests, the district tests and the regional test.
Speaking of the State Meet, are there any aspects of it that you enjoy?
I enjoy all aspects of the State Meet, the great food, the great accommodations, the normally beautiful weather, the ... oops, I guess you meant the actual meet itself. Seriously, what is there not to enjoy? I get the chance to work with and visit with some of the finest young math minds in the country. I get to work with the great coaches, who are my stress relievers. They proof the tests and grade the tests and do it as the professionals they are. Of course, I’ve known most of them for a lot of years and we have a jolly good time together at the State Meet. Heck, the coaches and kids are stressed. I’m just having a ball. I get to see and visit with all of the good UIL folks and the other contest directors. The only negative I have is the traffic and parking in Austin. You have to understand, there aren’t many more than 25 or 30 cars total in downtown Millersview where I live, and most of them are in the country. A traffic jam only occurs when a car has to stop for a group of turkeys crossing the street or mama cat taking her young-un’s out for the daily hunt. We only have one stop sign, and when we collect enough money, we are going to paint it red. What do you like the most about your involvement with UIL? The thing I like most about my involvement with UIL is that I am able to contribute to the growth and knowledge of the students across the state of Texas. I have the opportunity to help their minds expand, give them the opportunity to compete in their areas of interest and help to provide an academic means of gaining scholarship money for their future studies.
Why do you think it’s important for students to be involved with UIL?
When you think about the assets that students gain from UIL, it is easy to see why it is important: improve their knowledge and skills, experience new adventures and various cultures, experience teamwork, meet new people, gain lifelong learning and experiences, understand the amount of work it takes to be successful, learn the value of sacrifice, hard work, dedication, helping others, etc. A student does not have to become a state champion to gain these assets. They only have to be involved in some way, and they will gain these invaluable assets.