UT Tyler University Academy Announces Winners of 2023 UIL Academic Meet Thirty-six students advance to regional competition on April 21 

TYLER (April 17, 2023) – The University of Texas at Tyler University Academy announced  winners from the 2023 District 27 1A University Interscholastic League academic meet held at  Stephen F. Austin State University. 

From all three campuses, 36 students placed first, second or third to advance to the regional level  of competition on Friday, April 21, at Blinn College. Teams placing first also advanced to regionals. 

“Our commitment to provide students a rigorous learning environment is celebrated when our  students have success,” said Dr. Jo Ann Simmons, UA superintendent. “We are so proud of their  hard work. We also have a special appreciation for our teachers in preparing our students.” 

In addition, the UA Tyler campus placed first overall in the district by advancing 20 students to  regionals. 

“I am beyond excited to be advancing so many students to regionals this school year,” said Joy  Clary, UA UIL district coordinator and Tyler campus coordinator. “UA scholars have been working  hard all year to be academically competitive at UIL, and their hard work paid off.” 

The UIL academic meet tests students, both individually and in teams, on their knowledge and skills  over many content areas including speech and debate, writing, math and literary knowledge. 

Winners are listed by campus, and an asterisk denotes regional qualifiers. 

UA Longview winners include: 

• Kate Wallace – fourth place in calculator applications. 
• Amyah McDougald – second place in current issues and events.* 
• Elias Jimenez – first place in number sense.*  
• Zoei Gan – fifth place in number sense. 
• Kate Wallace – fourth place in science. 
• Janna Stenhouse – sixth place in science and first in biology.* 
• Jessica Mashburn – third place in social studies.* 
• Baylee Mauer – fifth place in social studies. 
• Calculator Applications Team – second place overall. 
• Current Issues and Events Team – second place overall. 
• Number Sense Team – first place overall.* 
• Social Studies Team – first place overall.*

UA Palestine winners include: 

• Hunter Brown – second place in calculator applications.* 
• Ava Chaladpru – third place in calculator applications.* 
• David Davis – sixth place in calculator applications. 
• Sam Carter – sixth place in current issues and events. 
• Jaiden Harden – second place in literary criticism.* 
• Genesis Garcia – fourth place in literary criticism.  
• Krista Jenkins and Nadia Hoskins – eighth place in literary criticism (tie). • Hunter Brown – first place in mathematics.* 
• Ava Chaladpru – sixth place in mathematics. 
• Ava Chaladpru – sixth place in number sense. 
• Hunter Brown – second place overall in science, first place in chemistry and first place in  physics.* 
• David Davis – seventh place overall in science and second place in biology. • Jad Absy – fifth place in chemistry. 
• Calculator Applications Team – first place overall.* 
• Literacy Criticism Team – second place overall* (via Wild Card). 
• Mathematics Team – second place overall. 
• Science Team – third place overall. 

UA Tyler winners include: 

• Rachel Smith – third place in copy editing.* 
• Hayden Burns – first place in current issues and events.* 
• Jagger Rossall – third place in current issues and events* 
• Reagan Lee – fourth place in current issues and events. 
• Rachel Smith – sixth place in editorial writing. 
• Ke Shan Conneen – third place in feature writing.* 
• Grace Dudley – fifth place in featuring writing. 
• Gavin Green – third place in headline writing.* 
• Sara Pierson – fifth place in headline writing. 
• Hayden Burns – first place in informative speaking.* 
• Ethan Miller – second place in informative speaking.* 
• Hassan Danish – third place in informative speaking.* 
• Ian Orr – first place in LD debate.* 
• Hayden Burns – second place in LD debate.* 
• Anna Awbrey – first place in literary criticism.* 
• Grace Dudley –fifth place in literary criticism. 
• Melissa Hilbig and Meredith Hilbig – third place in mathematics* (tie). • Melissa Hilbig – first place in number sense.* 
• Mathew Deptula – fourth place in number sense. 
• Jeremiah Humphries – second place in persuasive speaking.* 
• Bliss Joseph – first place in prose interpretation.* 
• Giovanni Pinedo – second place in prose interpretation.*
• Grace Dudley – first place in ready writing.* 
• Anna Awbrey – second place in ready writing.* 
• Rachel Smith – third place in ready writing.* 
• Rebekah Daniel – third place overall in science* and Chemistry top scorer. • Melissa Hilbig – Biology top scorer. 
• Jagger Rossall – Chemistry top scorer. 
• Mathew Deptula – Physics top scorer. 
• Duong Tran – Physics top scorer. 
• Rachel Smith – Physics top scorer. 
• Ian Orr – first place in social studies.* 
• Ke Shan Conneen – fourth place in social studies. 
• Current Issues and Events Team – first place overall.* 
• Journalism Team – third place overall. 
• Literary Criticism Team – first place overall.* 
• Mathematics Team – first place overall.* 
• Number Sense Team – second place overall. 
• Science Team – first place overall.* 
• Social Studies Team – second place overall. 
• Speech and Debate Team – first place overall.* 
• First place overall in School Sweepstakes for District 27. 

The UT Tyler University Academy is a K-12 public university charter school with campuses in Tyler,  Longview and Palestine. UT Tyler UA offers STEM curriculum in a hands-on learning environment.  The district currently serves about 835 students.  

With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT  Tyler offers more than 80 undergraduate and graduate programs to 10,000 students. UT Tyler  recently merged with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (now known as UT  Tyler Health Science Center). Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center (HSC) and  UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education,  cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research  institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in  Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.