Teachers JP Fugler and Neda Morrow provided instructional seminars at the UIL Student Activities Conference at Tyler Junior College on Saturday.

“Most of the sessions in the conference are run by the state contest directors,” academic director Rory McKenzie said. “The fact that our teachers were chosen means that the state contest directors believe that our coaches and sponsors are not only knowledgeable in their events, but they are leaders in their events. They would provide good perspective to the community.”

The conference was open to any students and coaches who wished to learn more about their events. Speech and debate coach JP Fugler taught a seminar about advanced congressional debate, the new prose and poetry categories and a coaching session for oral interpretation. 

“Some of the observers learned the basics and the mechanics of their event, while others returned to try to take their competition to the next level,” Fugler said. “Those people I think took away the skills necessary to make that happen.”

Journalism instructor Neda Morrow also taught a session over editorial writing. Morrow spoke about how to write a winning editorial and how to incorporate logical reasoning and academic voice in their work.

“The number one thing, and the reason why I was willing to teach editorial is that I want to be able to teach students that you can have an opinion without a rant,” Morrow said. “Although that’s a style that many choose to use in current media, there’s a logical, advanced, academic way to write an opinion that will stand the test of time.”