With academic competitions approaching, the UIL practice season will start Dec. 3 along with Academic Decathlon Nov. 12.

“UIL is just like a track meet for your mind,” UIL Academic Coordinator Brandon Austin said. “Basically UIL is where you practice your brain, you practice your mind and you get stronger and you get more information. You go compete and show that your brain is better than other brains.”

Austin said sponsors are doing really well with bringing new students in and encouraging them to join teams.

“I had a bunch of kids show up for social studies and it was a good mix of older kids and younger kids,” he said. “I think I had a ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelve grader in there, so that was really good. I want to build levels.”

Not all UIL competitors are new, students like junior Mallory Ray have been competing for years. 

“I’ve been in UIL since the seventh grade, so about five years,” Ray said. “I think knowing that when you’ve been in something for so long and preparing, it makes you feel good and knowing your hard work paid off.

Just like UIL, AcaDec has started preparing for competitions as well.

“We’ve really been cracking down on studying,” AcaDec Coach and Sponsor Mandy Martin said. “We’re doing really, really well. I have very high hopes for this team, they’re reminiscent of our team that went to state.”

Unlike UIL, AcaDec is a national competition, Martin said every year they pick a specific topic you must know everything about.

“This year we have the American Revolution, and then you have 10 subjects over that,” Martin said. “So the math, the art, the history, the music, the english, etc.”

AcaDec students range from sophomores to seniors, freshmen have to wait until their sophomore year before joining.

“I’ve been in AcaDec since sophomore year since that’s the earliest you can do it,” senior and team captain Jackson Harris said. “This is my third year running. I really like the team work and the friendship with AcaDec.”