By Toni Garrard Clay/AISD Communications Specialist
Athens ISD held its first-ever, citywide UIL meet for elementary students on Wednesday. Central Athens Elementary, the host site, bustled with the nervous energy of dozens of children.
“This is your chance to prove yourself,” said Eli Rincon, a fifth-grader at Central Athens who competed in music memory. His classmate and fellow music memory hopeful, Dani Allen, said the competition will make the district team better.
The city meet, organized by AISD Educational Services Director Renee Campbell, was made necessary by the recent elementary campus realignment. Second- through fifth-grade students from Bel Air, South and Central were required to face-off to determine which students will make up the AISD team at the elementary level.
“For individual events,” said Campbell, “the top-scoring students will go to district, regardless of their campus. For team events, the top scoring team from a campus will advance.”
There are approximately 17 events, ranging from storytelling to art appreciation to maps, charts and graphs. For individual events that require solely written submissions, competitions were held earlier in the week at each campus, and then graded by judges at the meet.
Campbell, who competed in UIL herself as a girl, believes the varied categories help young people discover new interests. “We want to find talents in students and nurture them,” she said. “Sometimes those talents are more evident outside of a classroom structure. It also broadens their opportunities beyond the regular curriculum.”
For proof of that, one need look no further than Eli and Dani who have memorized the names of great classical composers, can identify (and spell) their major works, and now have favorite classical pieces of their own.
“We learn about Bach, Beethoven, Handel. It’s not like Taylor Swift or anything,” explained Dani.
“It also teaches you how to spell weird words,” added Eli, “like ‘Toccata and Fugue.’ And I think it makes teachers look at you differently.”
The elementary UIL district competition will be held in Crandall on Jan. 23.
