Opportunities for Student Participation May Expand After Council Meeting
By Jeanne Acton, Journalism Director | Tuesday, October 02, 2012 8:41 AM
Each year on the third Sunday in October, the full Legislative Council meets. This year the Council will meet on Sunday, Oct. 21 and Monday, Oct. 22.
Photo by Jeanne Acton
After the UIL Legislative Council meets Oct. 21-22, Texas students may have a few more options for participating in League events in the future.
The academic department is proposing a new pilot — Student Congress, for the 2013-14 school year. Student Congress is a mock legislative assembly competition, where students propose laws and position statements that the assembly debates and votes on to pass into law under the structure of parliamentary procedure.
Speech and Debate Director Jana Riggins said she first introduced the idea of a Student Congress event several years ago, and each year support for the contest has grown.
“Recently, the Interscholastic League Advisory Council, whose makeup includes members of the State Board of Education, school boards, House of Representatives, school administrators and community leaders, advocated support,” she said.
If the Council approves Student Congress as a pilot contest, the League will encourage invitational meets to begin hosting the event so students will be familiar with the contest, Riggins said. UIL also will continue to provide workshops to expose teachers and students to the nature and procedures of the contest.
“Currently, coaches can access information on the homepage of the UIL speech webpage,” Riggins said. “Additional links will go up immediately, if the contest receives Council approval.”
One-Act Play also may see more growth. One proposal would increase the number of participating schools advancing from each level of competition from two to three. Two plays would continue to advance from region to state.
Another OAP proposal would introduce a new pilot contest in student short film production.
“Perhaps it was memories of making 8mm movies with my friends in the 60s that came roaring back after watching the sci-fi film Super 8 that made me think that it was time that Texas recognized the many young cinematic storytellers in our schools,” said Theatre Director Luis Muñoz.
Muñoz said digital film making resources have become even more accessible to this generation than the Kodak Brownie 8 mm camera and projector was for his.
“Every child with a phone and a laptop can film, edit, create soundtracks and animate,” he said. “We plan to train, to guide and to honor the next generation of storytellers. I want the next Spielberg and John Williams to come from Texas.”
Contest options may increase for middle school and elementary school students, too. One proposal would add sixth grade to the grade levels eligible to participate in the A+ Editorial Writing, Impromptu Speaking and Modern Oratory contests.
"The majority of our school districts have a middle school structure with grades six through eight on one campus, so adding sixth grade to those three events is an easy way to open up participation to more students," A+ Academics Director David Trussell said. "Schools and A+ districts that are already offering those events can simply choose whether to add a sixth grade division. They would be able to use the same materials and the same contest judges they're already using for the seventh and eighth grade contestants."
Another A+ proposal would move Chess Puzzle from a pilot to an official contest for students in grades 2-8.
Athletics also has a few proposals going to the Council that could expand opportunities for students.
One proposal adds a fourth playoff team from each district in team sport activities in conferences 2A and 3A. Another proposal would increase the number of qualifiers in wrestling from district to regionals from two to four, and a proposal in team tennis would increase the advancement to four teams from each district to an area tournament.
Due to the growth, the Council also will consider creating a 3A conference for soccer and team tennis.
“The number of sub-4A conference schools in soccer has grown to a point where we think it merits its own conference,” said Assistant Athletic Director Peter Contreras, the soccer state tournament director. “In the past, 3A schools had to participate at the 4A level. This new conference also should help spur a growth at those smaller schools because they will no longer have to compete against schools twice their size.”
While UIL music continues to operate in a very stable environment with minimal rules modifications, one proposal would expand opportunities for string students. The Council will consider giving schools the option to allow string orchestra students to participate in both varsity and non-varsity concert and sight-reading contests if they play different instruments.