The UIL speech and debate team competed in an essay competition spanning from the beginning of the year to May. The award ceremony for the state finalist will be held May 6 in Austin at the UT  campus.   The  team had four state finalists: senior Gavin James, junior Antoina Calin, senior Cody Peters, and sophomore Jaxson Buttram. 

          “This competition was really fun, but also difficult,” sophomore Jaxson Buttrum said. I loved learning about different backgrounds of all different kinds of people.”

          The debate team is competing in two different types of essays: Barbara Jordan Historical Essay Contest and Latino History Essay Contest. Respectively, the essays are about African American history and culture in history and the significance of Latino history.

          “The journey I experienced while writing this essay that made me a state finalist was just amazing,” Calin said. “I can’t wait to see where else passion is going to take me, starting with the UT Austin ceremony.