On Jan. 14, Speech and Debate competed at Burnet High School, with sophomore Austin Thompson placing second in Prose Interpretation and freshman Rachel Sanders placing third in Poetry Interpretation. “I was very nervous,” Thompson said. “I didn’t know what anything would be like. But I’m glad I won.”

Senior trumpet player Zack Firkins was named to the All-State Band, Jan. 7. “I couldn’t believe that I was there,” he said. “I was really excited.” Only 21 trumpet players were named to the band. Firkins will play with the Texas 4A All-State Band at the Texas Music Educator’s Conference next week in San Antonio. Four other students also audition for the All-State Band – Sam Acosta, Aaron Rachui and Nathan Knoblett for 4A and Lyndsy Tacquard for 5A.

Four students competed in DECA marketing and business district competition, Jan. 21 with two qualifying for state. Senior Victoria Curiel qualified in the individual Marketing Management category and senior Sydney Britton advanced in the individual Retail Merchandising category. “I feel like a lot of hard work paid off,” Curiel said. “I hope to become a marketing manager so I want to apply this experience in later careers.” Junior Andrew Williams and senior Nick Espinoza were named State Alternates in the Sports and Entertainment Marketing category. “I’m very proud of the hard work and determination the students put into preparing for the competition,” sponsor Jessica Walker said.