Central Heights High School students brought home the district championship trophy at the District 21AAA U.I.L. academic competition on March 22 at Stephen F. Austin State University. Their success earned them the right to compete at the U.I.L. regional meet on April 17 at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas. 

In Spelling and Vocabulary, junior Ellie Davis placed first and senior Carson Lindemann placed fifth. The overall team, composed of Davis, Lindemann, junior Za’Corrie Caldwell, and freshman Nick West, took first and advanced to regionals. 

The Current Issues and Events team, seniors Brandon Turnage, Jacob Jolley, Georgia Page and junior Connor Rudolph, also placed first and will advance to the regional meet. Turnage placed third, Rudolph placed fifth and Jolley placed sixth. 

In Social Studies, senior Jason Harris placed first, while sophomore Lindsey Grier and junior Nolan Shrewsbury took third and fourth respectively. The first-place Social Studies team consisting of Harris, Grier, Shrewsbury and freshman Will Sams will advance to the regional meet.

Senior Hadley Watts placed first in Calculator Applications, and junior Lauren Ashley placed sixth.The first place team of Watts, Ashley, freshmen David Coleman and Cole Windham advances to the regional meet.

The Science team also placed first, advancing to regionals. Turnage earned second place overall as well as second in biology; senior Kobi Smith won third place overall and second place in physics and chemistry; Jolley won fifth place overall and was the top scorer in physics; and  sophomore Paola Sifuentes placed second in chemistry. Also competing at the district meet were sophomores Trinity Creamer and Daisy Attaway. Turnage, Smith, Jolley and Attaway will compete at the regional meet.

The journalism team, made up of eleven students, won the team champion award. Sophomore Allison Durham placed third in News Writing to advance, and senior Caitrin Dalton placed fifth. In Feature Writing, senior Mallory Richardson placed second, advancing, while Kylie Gast placed fourth and is the alternate. Sophomore Ellie Sullivan placed fifth. Gast placed second in editorial and freshman Elissa Bicknell placed third, both advancing to the regional level. In headline writing, Coleman earned first place, advancing; Bicknell won fourth place and is the alternate; and junior Hannah Wurtz won sixth place. In copy editing, Rudolph placed first and Shrewsbury placed second, both advancing. 

The Literary Criticism team, consisting of Gast, junior Juliette Lostrocco, junior Alanna Lewis-Lockett, and sophomore Aaunu Odunga, placed second. As an individual, Gast placed second. Gast also advances in Ready Writing after winning first place. Creamer is the alternate to regionals with a fourth place win, and Sams placed sixth. 

Watts advances to the next level with a second place win in Mathematics. Sams earned a sixth place medal. The Mathematics team also includes Sifuentes and Attaway who contributed to the second place team win. In Computer Applications, senior Noah Wood advances with a second place medal. 

Speech won the team champion runner-up award with medals in poetry, prose and extemporaneous speaking. Wurtz advances after a third place medal in poetry. Sophomore Paris Ngo earned a fifth place medal, and freshman Alexandria Birkelbach placed sixth. Senior David Smith placed fourth in prose and is the alternate to regionals. In informative speaking, sophomore Katy Jacks won first place, advancing, and sophomore Katy Glymph placed sixth. In persuasive speaking, junior Matthew Self placed first, advancing. Senior Jacey Tillis placed fifth and junior Taylar Russell placed sixth.