Alba-Golden students embrace benefits of competition

Posted 12/8/22

With the precision necessary when wrangling 60 children, the Alba-Golden Elementary School UIL Academic team arrived at North Hopkins School last Wednesday. They joined youngsters from Como-Pickton, Cooper, Cumby, Fruitvale and North Hopkins for the 2022 academic competition.

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Alba-Golden students embrace benefits of competition

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With the precision necessary when wrangling 60 children, the Alba-Golden Elementary School UIL Academic team arrived at North Hopkins School last Wednesday. They joined youngsters from Como-Pickton, Cooper, Cumby, Fruitvale and North Hopkins for the 2022 academic competition.

North Hopkins was ready. The school had released all students at noon, so that they would be adequately prepared to host the event. 

The manner in which the little Panthers marched in was heartening – single file, no boisterous activity. It was a credit to the kids and their nine accompanying teachers. The lead student walked to the very end of the long row of tables in the cafeteria before taking a chair. The kids took out some playthings and began to occupy themselves. 

Yes, there were some who had electronics as their toy, but some kids brought cards and others brought board games. A game of Texas bingo kept a group of four busy while a few kids simply brought books to read. It was refreshing to see that less than half the group was on electronic devices.

Sherri Hocatt, the leader of the competition (and a North Hopkins sixth grade math teacher) stated that it was the fifth year running that the school has hosted the competition. It showed. Within minutes of arrival, Alba-Golden youngsters were lined up and marched out for the first event of the afternoon, storytelling. 

Alba-Golden’s UIL academic coordinator Cindy Soape was busy and completely in her element. In between fielding a few stray questions about snacks and lunch (the kids had already eaten before leaving Alba-Golden school), she offered a reassuring smile and words of personal encouragement to a number of students.        

“Take your time…breathe,” she offered one student. “You’ll do great, lots of smiles,” she said to another. They responded with head nods.

A Quitman High School graduate, Soape has been the academic competition coordinator at Alba-Golden for 20 years. Upon graduating from Stephen F. Austin University, she did her first teaching stint at Tarkington Prairie, before coming to Alba-Golden. She calls A-G her ‘teaching home.’  

With no hesitation whatsoever, Soape rattled off a long list of advantages to participation of elementary students in an academic competition. Developing self-confidence topped the list, followed by risk-taking, exploration into other areas of study and allowing a different approach to learning.

She continued, “Competition is good for everyone, as is learning the value of encouragement as well as how to cope with disappointment…. They are all vital parts of maturing.”  

She also advised that it is not too early for children to make a connection with a specific subject area or skill. This can, she related, become the start of a life-long passion or profession. 

It is competition, however, which Soape returns to as the greatest attribute to the event. She explained how all elements of competition, from watching other students compete, to preparations and handling success and failure are critical skills to a child’s development. 

Not all schools see it that way, however. Some schools view the UIL academic competition as an unnecessary drain on time which would be spent preparing for the state examinations.

Assistant Principal Tracy Browning assuredly stated, “We believe there is great value in the academic competition.”

Last Wednesday, just after the first kids departed for the storytelling competition, and after having settled in with some delivered pizza, the balance of the Alba-Golden students readied themselves for their events. 

There was little obvious nervousness among them. Competing in fourth-grade spelling, Christopher Reynolds explained that he has to spell 60 words on the test, “out of a list of 300 or 600…a bunch.” He shared that two of the challenging words from last year were ‘dictionary’ and ‘zeal’. 

Sitting across from Reynolds at a long table was art memory contestant Benicia Bartholomew.

“Upon being shown a painting, we must be able to name the work of art and the artist,” she explained. She offered the example of a famous painting titled ‘A Dutch Courtyard’ by Pieter De Hooch, a 17th Century artist.  

Rand York, who was involved in a game of Texas bingo (blackout) was waiting for his turn at the music memory competition. If he was nervous, it certainly didn’t show. “As long as you know your stuff,” he said, “it’s pretty easy.” 

That quiet confidence is notable but should not be interpreted as communicating that the competition is easy. Far from it. There are 16 events ranging from number sense and mental math (no writing anything down when doing the math problems) to listening and creative writing, to social studies and a great event called ‘Maps, Graphs and Charts.’ Chess was added this past year.

The music and art memory events Bartholomew and York were readying for required memorization of 40 works of art and artists and 15 pieces of music (from classical to 20th Century). As Bartholomew reminded, “Spelling counts in your answers.”

Soape explained that, for the younger students, teachers try to identify those who may fit a particular skill or subject. For the fourth and fifth-graders, there is an opportunity for students to sign-up for specific events. Then, like with most extra activities, it’s a matter of finding time with the teacher-sponsor to practice. 

“Most teachers who are sponsoring an event start out meeting with their teams once a week, commencing around Oct. 1,” she said. That frequency then increases as they near the competition.  

There is no follow-on competition beyond the district level, nor are the teams ranked within the district events – but everyone keeps score. Last year Alba-Golden topped the district with an informal score which made their academic team the champions.