DRIPPING SPRINGS – All three regional qualifiers from Dripping Springs High School advanced to the finals of the virtual UIL Region 13 Congress Tournament, making DSHS the only school in the region to accomplish that feat. Junior Lily Claire Kroll placed second overall and has qualified for the state tournament to be held in February. Amanda Davis and Lizzie Galassini also were regional finalists. The event included the top 30 congressional debaters from the region.
Congress is an individual contest in a group setting that models the legislative process of 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. Topics this year included rejoining the Paris Climate Accords, funding mail-in ballots, increasing aid to Ukraine, reforming Social Security, and providing affordable housing. Congress is one of several speech/debate events sponsored by UIL; others occur in the spring.
