North Hopkins Elementary wins District 15-AA Academic UIL Championship

North Hopkins Elementary School took top honors at the Academic UIL District 15-AA Meet held on campus Wednesday, Nov. 29. Thirty-three students in grades 2-6 competed against their peers from four other elementary schools in 13 separate events, which ranged from art to mathematics and storytelling. The students earned a collective total of 379.5 points to win, and team event competitions were held for each grade level with points allotted. Other schools competing included Alba-Golden, Como-Pickton, Cooper and Fruitvale.

Students competed both individually and in teams, earning points for their school, which then determined the overall school rankings and the district winner.

Art

In this elementary level two-part event, students study 30 art selections from the National Gallery of Art and/ or selected Texas museums. During the event, the director selects 15 artists and artworks. In Part A, students are asked to identify the selections by name and artist. In Part B, students answer 30 questions about art history and art elements in the selected works.

Fourth graders Ryndi Oats and Chance Brown placed second and fifth. Both were members of a three-person team that placed first. Fifth grader Tessa Robinson placed fourth in individual competition. The three-member fifth grade team, of which Robinson was a member, placed second. North Hopkins Elementary took first place overall in the fourth grade competition and third place overall in the fifth grade competition.

Chess Puzzle

In this event, contestants complete a paper test where they are asked to interpret diagrams and possible moves on a chessboard.

Second grader Wyatt Rhodes placed first individually. His three-person team placed third, and North Hopkins Elementary placed second in the championship rankings with 15.5 points, behind Como-Pickton Elementary at 30.5 points.

Fourth grader Brailon Joslin tied for third place individually. His three-person chess puzzle team placed second with six points. North Hopkins Elementary placed second in the event, behind Como-Pickton and ahead of Fruitvale Elementary. Fifth graders Cooper Smith and Ben Dutiene took first and fourth places. Their three-person chess puzzle team placed third, landing North Hopkins Elementary in first place overall.

Creative Writing

Contestants are given a writing prompt and pictures, which they use to create an original story within 30 minutes.

Second graders Sarah Gavlick and Allison Wright placed second and fifth in the creative writing event, earning the school a second place ranking in the overall competition with 18 points.

Dictionary Skills

In this event, students are allowed 20 minutes to use a dictionary to answer 40 questions about word origins and histories, parts of speech, pronunciation, variant spellings, plurals, alphabetizing and other elements.

Fifth graders Cooper Smith, Makenzie Hankins and Charlie Hatley placed first, second and fourth place individually. The team earned first place, landing North Hopkins Elementary in the overall number one spot for the dictionary skills event. Cooper Elementary took second, followed by Alba-Golden Elementary in third place.

Listening Skills

In this competition, students listen to a seven to 10 minute script while taking notes, which they use their notes to answer 25 multiple choice, true/false and short answer test questions.

Fifth grader Carter Belz tied for third place individually in the Listening Skills competition. The team of Brooks, Belz and Burnett won second place, earning North Hopkins Elementary a third place trophy.

Maps, Graphs and Charts

In this event, students are tested on their ability to interpret information from world maps, pie charts, bar charts and local area maps in a 75-question multiple choice test.

Fifth grader Cooper Smith won first place in the individual maps, graphs and charts event. The team earned second place, and North Hopkins took home a blue ribbon for the school with 21 points overall in maps, graphs and charts.

Music Memory

In this event, students listen to 20-second snippets of major classical musical compositions and identify the selections’ titles, and composers.

Second graders Sarah Gavlick, Allison Wright and Kaelin Callihan won first, third and fourth places individually. First place as a team and overall went to North Hopkins Elementary.

Third graders Blakely Vaughan, Brynlee Darlin and Maddi Burnett did likewise, placing first, third and fifth respectively. The four-person third grade team also placed first, earning North Hopkins Elementary the winning school in that event.

Fourth graders Lynnex Lowe, Payton Farmer and Chandler Brown took third, fourth and fifth places individually. The North Hopkins music memory team, which also included Ryndi Oats, won first place, and the school placed second overall, behind Cooper Elementary.

Fifth grader Laken Callihan placed second, and Jade Jennings tied for third place individually. The fifth grade team won first place, which also earned North Hopkins Elementary first place overall for the music memory event.

Number Sense

Students are given 10 minutes to complete a test of their skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, proportions and use of mathematic notation. No calculations on paper or erasures or markets are allowed in the number sense event.

Fifth grader Charlie Hatley placed third individually. His team, which also included Ben Dutiene and Cooper Smith, placed third. North Hopkins Elementary took third place with 14 points overall for number sense.

Oral Reading

Students are judged on understanding of a poetry selection, which they read aloud using performance elements to reflect the mood, tone, and essence of the work.

Fourth grader Lynnex Lowe took second place individually in the oral reading competition, as did North Hopkins Elementary overall.

Ready Writing

In this event, students write an original essay based on one of two prompts. Students analyze the prompts to determine the purpose, audience, format and point of view. The essays are judged on ideas, originality, organization, style and other criteria.

Fourth graders Natalia Olivas, Jameson Westbrook and Tessa Norton placed second, fifth and sixth individually, and North Hopkins Elementary took second place overall in the ready writing event.

Social Studies

This event tests fifth and sixth graders’ knowledge of state, national and world topics, including founding documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution; government; citizenship and culture. They are provided a study outline and take a 40-question test within 30 minutes.

Fifth grader Ben Dutiene placed fifth individually. The three-person social studies team placed third, and North Hopkins Elementary earned fourth place overall in the social studies competition.

Spelling

Students are given a list of vocabulary words to study. They are then tested on spelling and punctuation of 50110 words from the list during the spelling event.

Fifth grader Lillie Burnett tied with a Como-Pickton Elementary student for second place. North Hopkins Elementary took fourth place in the spelling event overall.

Storytelling

In this event, students are read a story of 600-1100 words. They are then asked to retell that story in their own words Second grader Benjamin Westbrook took sixth place individually in the storytelling competition, while North Hopkins Elementary placed fifth overall.

Overall

North Hopkins Elementary took first place with 379.5 points overall, earning the district championship trophy. Cooper Elementary earned second place with 358.5 points, followed by Fruitvale Elementary with 315 points; Como-Pickton Elementary with 314 points; Alba-Golden Elementary with 313 points; and Cumby Elementary with 112 points.