Courtesy Photos/Trinidad ISD
Trinidad ISD will be represented again this year at the University Interscholastic League (UIL) State Congress Contest, which is part of the Speech & Debate portion of the UIL academic competitions. Alexis Williams won first place to advance to state, while Nathan Dann is the sixth place alternate. In addition, Samatha Williams and Halin Ayala also competed as freshmen this year and did a great job, according to the school district. UIL says Congress is an individual contest in a large group setting. It models the legislative process of democracy, specifically, the United States Congress. Within this mock legislative assembly competition, contestants draft legislation (proposed laws and position statements) submitted to the tournament, and they research the docket of bills and resolutions dealing with real-world social and political policies prior to the contest to prepare their speeches. At the tournament, students caucus in committees, deliver formal discourse on the merits and disadvantages of each piece of legislation, and vote to pass or defeat the measures they have examined. Parliamentary procedure forms structure for the discourse, and students extemporaneously respond to others’ arguments over the course of a session. The Congress State Tournament will be held Jan. 7-8 on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin and at the nearby Texas State Capitol Extension.