AHS Speech and Debate and Math Teams Do Well in UIL

Members of the UIL Speech and Debate Team are (from left) Allan Platt, Samuel Nichols, Chris Hill, Megan Withers, Lydia Strand, Matthew Hernandez, Michael Pulver, Jose Sanchez, Jordan Ramirez and Dusty Rhodes.
Members of the UIL Speech and Debate Team are (from left) Allan Platt, Samuel Nichols, Chris Hill, Megan Withers, Lydia Strand, Matthew Hernandez, Michael Pulver, Jose Sanchez, Jordan Ramirez and Dusty Rhodes.
Math team members pictured are (from left) Jonathan Bywaters, Walt Mahmoud, Mollie Davies and Eli McCool.
Math team members pictured are (from left) Jonathan Bywaters, Walt Mahmoud, Mollie Davies and Eli McCool.

By Nicole Cornish/AHS Speech and Debate Coach

November has been a busy month for the AHS Speech and Debate Team. On Nov. 8, the students competed at the Whitehouse UIL Invitational. Samuel Nichols placed sixth in Congress. Lydia Strand and Megan Withers placed first in DUO Interpretation. Matthew Hernandez and Michael Pulver placed seventh in Policy Debate with an undefeated record.

The UIL Math Team also took home medals from this tournament. In calculator, they won first-place team. Individual awards included Mollie Davies (first place) and Jonathan Bywaters (second place). In Number Sense, they won second-place team. Individual awards included Davies (sixth place) and Joseph Mahmoud (second place).

On Nov. 10, students competed at the UIL District Congress tournament. Sophomores Hernandez and Pulver advanced to the final round of competition. Pulver placed fourth, making him the first alternate to state competition.

This past Saturday, the Number Sense team placed second in UIL. Davies won second place individually, and Mahmoud won sixth place. The team’s coach is Ken Walker.

On Nov. 15, the AHS Speech and Debate Team hosted a full UIL tournament. Twenty-six schools, 520 students, and 100 coaches attended. AHS students worked so hard to keep the tournament running. This is an important fundraiser for the speech and debate team. This year the tournament raised almost $8,000. Our students received multiple compliments from other coaches on their behavior.