TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple High School UIL Academics Team posted a strong showing at the District 12-6A Meet earlier this week, finishing in third place in the team standings, winning three event district titles and qualifying multiple students for the Regional competition next month.
Temple High School’s Aryan Guleria won first place in the calculator applications competition and Avery Morris added a first-place finish in prose interpretation at the district meet for the second straight year. The calculator applications team of Guleria, Jazlyn Alexander, Jack Carr, and Emma Fisher also won a district title. All of those students will advance to the regional competition after winning district championships. Other students qualifying to advance to regionals based on their district finish are Guleria in both science and mathematics, Chase Hildenbrand in ready writing, and Kadyn Alley in poetry interpretation.
“It feels great, and I am excited to continue and have the chance to compete to go to state,” Guleria, a junior at Temple High School said of his performance. “I am learning how to work under time pressure and answer quickly. I’ve learned faster methods to get to the same answer which can help me in later endeavors like engineering.”
“I kind of caught myself by surprise because I wasn’t sure that I would make it to regionals,” added Hildenbrand, also a junior. “It was a really fun experience and I have definitely learned how to manage my time. I am pretty pumped about the chance to go to Baylor and compete.”
In addition to the regional qualifiers, a number of Temple High School students are alternates for regionals based on finishing in the top six in their contests at the district meet. Three teams made up of THS students are alternates. The number sense team made up of Guleria, Fisher, Vihaan Murthy, and Atharv Garg, the science team consisting of Guleria, Alexander, Carr, and Ada Dang, and the mathematics team of Guleria, Murthy, Fisher, and Garg are all alternates. Aneri Rama is an alternate in ready writing, Guleria and Murthy are both alternates in number sense, Alexander is an alternate in calculator applications, Aubree Wharton is an alternate in news writing, Lauren Porter is an alternate in prose interpretation, and both Kolbie Ticknor and Lillian Goodwin are alternates in poetry interpretation.
The Temple High School UIL Academics Team also added a third-place finish in the team standings for the second straight year. THS Math Teacher and UIL Academics Coordinator Tyler Parker is in his fourth year in that position. He has seen continued growth in both participation and results and is excited about the opportunities that UIL Academics provide for the students.
“I am really proud of our students because they have put in a lot of hard work over the past couple of years,” Parker said. “It just goes to show that when you stick with something and really commit to it that you can achieve some really good things. I hope they take pride and a sense of accomplishment out of this experience. I want this current group of juniors to really take charge of this next year and go out and bring in some younger students to help us keep growing and give the younger students the same type of experiences that this group has been able to have.”
The UIL Academics Regional Contest will be held April 24-25th at Baylor University in Waco.