UIL Academics & One Act Play
10 Qualify for Regional ~ The Girl in the Mirror Actors Honored

The 13AA District UIL Academic Meet was held at TWU on March 26. Regional qualifiers will compete at Tarleton University in Stephenville on April 14.

Students that make math look easy are few and far between - but the math team led by Ms. Sheri Simmons does just that. After winning at the state level in TMSCA over spring break, the team came back to take two first place finishes in Number Sense and Calculator Applications at the district level to advance to the regional UIL competition in Stephenville.

In Calculator Applications the team won first place decisively with 492 points - 130 points better than the 2nd place Farmersville team. Sophomore Lizzy Schofield placed 1st. The other team members came in side by side - sophomores Patrick Newland - 4th, Brent Fletcher - 5th and Andrew Gallegos - 6th.

First place in the Number Sense event also came easily. The team won with a score of 248 - 75 points better than 2nd place Krum. Individually, Lizzy Schofield placed 2nd, Patrick Newland and Brent Fletcher came in 4th and 5th respectively.

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English Events
by Vanessa Weidner

Spelling and Vocabulary, Literary Criticism and Ready Writing were the English events for Monday’s district UIL meet.

Participating in Spelling and Vocabulary were Tiffany Lowry and Ashley McBride. Although they did not place in the top six, the top three places advancing to regional, they were excited to be involved with UIL.

Ready Writing contestants were juniors Lindsey Allen, Maggie Frugé and Erica Kane. They disappointedly didn’t qualify for regional, but the students enjoyed themselves at the meet.

Kelly McCullough, Caleb Meek, Kim Singleton and Parker Brooks competed in the Literary Criticism event. Advancing to regional is Parker Brooks, who placed 2nd. He will be traveling to Stephenville on April 14th to partake in the regional meet.

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Speaking Events
by Katelyn Woods

The speaking events for UIL competition are Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Prose Interpretation, Poetry Interpretation, Informative Speaking and Persuasive Speaking. Several Ponder students competed in each event.

In Lincoln-Douglas Debate, juniors Micah McKenna and Amber Rogers and sophomore John Boyer all participated. McKenna made it to the semi-finals and placed 4th. Senior Vanessa Weidner and freshman Chelsea Redd participated in Prose Interpretation and senior Meagan McCann and junior Megan Martin in Poetry Interpretation. Seniors Kristina Garza and Amber Spann and freshman Vanessa DeLira all took part in Informative Speaking, and in Persuasive Speaking, senior Tyler Newton and freshmen Josh Daniel and Rachael Kolbensvik competed, where Newton, making it to the finals, placed 5th.

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Business & History Events
by Krissy Boxell

The Business events include Accounting and Computer Applications. Juniors Amanda Gooch, Megan Martin and Jeffrey Congleton and sophomores Jaron Leland and Matt Gilliland participated in Accounting. Gooch took 6th place and the team took 3rd overall. Freshman John Borsch, sophomore Krissy Boxell and senior Tyler Newton participated in Computer Applications. Borsch took 6th place overall in the competition.

Current Events and Social Studies are events that cover history in its past and as well as the present. Juniors Courtney Cummings and Angeleena Young took part in Current Events. Next, juniors Lane Loiselle and Keegan Farley, along with seniors Newton and Ellysia Dierker, competed in Social Studies.

 

Journalism Shines
by Keegan Farley

UIL academic students proved to be exceptional writers in the district academic meet by taking on the role of a journalist. Students prepared for the events early on in the year and were able to show just what they were made of at the district meet.

Newspaper staff members as well as several other students participated in different events in the journalism area. These events include News Writing, Feature Writing, Editorial Writing and Headline Writing. This has proved to be a special year for the Ponder journalists because there was one regional qualifier in each event.

Junior Lane Loiselle took home the top honor of winning first place in Feature Writing. The Feature Writing contest consists of students creating a story like news article based solely off quotes and a summary of the situation. Loiselle was a little shocked at the whole situation but is expected to do well at the regional. Also competing in the Feature Writing were juniors Keegan Farley and John Boyer.

Placing in News Writing was senior Vanessa Weidner. Weidner succeeded in the contest by winning third place and advancing to the regional meet.

“I am very happy that I did well and can’t wait to see how the regional contest goes,” Weidner said.

Senior Katelyn Woods and junior Lindsey Allen also competed in the news event.

Katelyn Woods, the editor of the Ponder newspaper staff, competed and brought back third place in Editorial Writing. Sophomore Krissy Boxell and senior Clint Crowell were the other Ponder competitors in the event.

Also, co-editor Lindsey Allen was able to capture third place in Headline Writing. Headline Writing gives the contestant several quotes and a synopsis of a certain situation; the contestant must then write a headline for the article a certain number of letters, or lines, long. Freshman Kaleb Broadstreet and senior Vanessa Weidner were also competitors in the headline contest.

Each contestant has worked hard to achieve these awards and has represented not only Ponder HS, but also the newspaper staff well.

 

Six Honored at OAP Zone
by Katelyn Woods

The One Act Play competed at zone on March 27 at Princeton High School. The cast and crew performed their solemn, intense play, The Girl in the Mirror, at the competition and just missed qualifying for the district contest. Because they placed 3rd and only the first two teams go onto district, they are the alternate for the district contest.

While the play did not advance, six students on the OAP cast and crew were honored at zone for their performance. Senior Meagan McCann, who portrayed Susan, a main character in the play, was named Best Actress; senior Jake Laughlin, who played the other main character, Susan’s conscious, and junior Erica Kane were named All-Star Cast; freshmen Josh Daniel and Yvonne Michaud were named Honorable Mention All-Star Cast; and junior Charlotte Gooch, who coordinated the lights, was recognized for her hard work behind the scenes rather than on stage and was named Best Crew.

Others who were part of the cast and crew of The Girl in the Mirror include senior Michaela Keim, junior Megan Martin, sophomore Delanie Darnell and freshmen Kayla Darnell, Toria Helfrich, Zach Hendrix, Miles Johnson and Nick Kennedy.