Their sleepy eyes crack open at 6 a.m. They slowly get dressed and try to get their brains prepared to write essays as they board the bus. The engine starts and the wheels creep forward, accelerating speed toward Longview, Texas, where the UIL Ready Writing team would soon compete in district.

After enduring two hours of competitive analysis and interpretation, the team waited for another three hours for results. When time was called, it was announced that senior Langley Leverett won second place, sophomore Molly Kyles won third place and senior Colton Johnson won fourth.

“Excitement doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt. More like elated. I was relieved to finally place after so much, we;ve been working for years,” UIL sponsor Holly Mooneyham said. “Ready Writing is subjective grading, so it’s hard to know whether a judge will like a paper, but to take second to fourth place at District just proved what I already knew, and that is we are awesome and talented writers. I hope that we can do the same at Regionals. My students are talented writers and deserve that recognition.”

Students Langley Leverett and Molly Kyles will be traveling to Prosper, Texas to compete in Regionals on April 13.

“I was not expecting to place second at all,” Leverett said. “All I knew was that I was going to go in and give it my best. Whatever happened was okay with me- I just told myself that God has it, even if I place or not. I am just thankful for the opportunity to be here.”