If you’re a serious scholar who embraces learning but also likes to have fun and compete, you MUST sign up for Public Speaking Honors, which is also known as Academic Decathlon or Aca Dec. To capture the spirit of this special course, here is an excerpt from the USAD website:

“There are lots of wonderful academic competitions out there. You can go prove you’re the best writer, or the best physicist, or the best speller.

Academic Decathlon isn’t about any of that, though. It’s not about demonstrating how good a student you already are. It’s about daring to push your limits, to master college-level material and to practice skills, like public speaking, that might be wholly new to you. It’s about the people you’ll meet along the way—the coaches who will mentor you, the competitors who will challenge you, and the teammates who will become your lifelong friends.”

At Harlan, our Aca Dec team is serious but also loves to have fun, and we’re a tight-knit group; so when we meet once a week during summer to start prepping, yes, we study together, but we also share a ton of laughs and offer endless support for each member of our team.

If you’re ready to explore an exciting new theme with us in a few months, we’d LOVE to welcome you to our Academic Decathlon family!

CONTACT: sandra.figueroa@nisd.net

AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. It is a college preparatory elective which can be taken all four years of high school, that helps students learn the skills necessary to take honors and AP classes in high school with the eventual outcome of attending a four-year college. The focus of our curriculum is on WICOR, which includes skills to strengthen writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization and reading.

CONTACT: elena.umbel@nisd.net

Harlan HS takes great pride in participating in Debate and Oral Interpretation. The National Speech and Debate Honors Society is the national honor society for speech and debate. We work to spark transformation in the lives of students, to help them become effective communicators, critical thinkers and engaged, ethical members of our democratic society. Students are invited to experience the exciting global debate format! Harlan HS students participate in both Interscholastic Competition and Non-Competitive Speaking/Service Activities. Debate Events: Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum and Congressional debate. Public Speaking Events: Extemporaneous Speaking, Informative Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, Impromptu, Original Oratory, Domestic Extemp and Foreign Extemp. Oral Interpretation Events: Poetry, Prose, Dramatic, Humorous, Duet Acting, Duo Interpretation, Story-Telling, POI, and many more events. Debate and Oral Interpretation students can become members of the National Speech and Debate Honors Society -members pledge to uphold the highest standards of integrity, humility, respect, leadership and service in the pursuit of excellence. Practices, invitationals and tournaments are held virtually and across campus at various times throughout the school year.

CONTACT: cassandra.zuniga@nisd.net

Hello, future Harlan Hawks! I’m Mrs. Figueroa, the campus GT Specialist. If you’re already in GT and want to continue in the program—and I truly hope you do—GT Leadership I is the class for you! If you’re not in GT but are interested, please reach out to the GT specialist at your current campus to find out about testing opportunities!

So what exactly IS GT Leadership? This wonderful HONORS elective course focuses on leadership…but what about leadership? So many things fall under that amalgam, such as effective communication, decision-making skills, intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, as well as understanding deep and complex concepts. For example, if you have ever participated in Socratic Seminar or played philosophical chairs, you have explored deep, complex ideas and universal themes. We do it all!

Something else we might not think about when it comes to leadership is CREATIVITY! YES! Creative thinking is critical to developing leadership skills, so in GT Leadership, we write songs, we paint, we problem solve. We present on topics we LOVE, and we accomplish a bit of SAT prep every day to get you ready.

One of many things students like about GT are the friendships we nurture, the laughs we share, the community service we provide, the field trips we take, and the growing we do. At Harlan, GT feels like family, and we are ready to welcome you!

CONTACT: sandra.figueroa@nisd.net

The University Interscholastic League exists to provide educational extracurricular academic, athletic, and music contests. Harlan HS takes great pride in participating in UIL Academics. The University Interscholastic League was created by The University of Texas at Austin in 1910 and has grown into the largest inter-school organization of its kind in the world. The UIL offers the most comprehensive literary and academic competition in the nation, with 23 high school events. These activities, which exist to complement the academic curriculum, are designed to motivate students as they acquire higher levels of knowledge, to encourage students to confront issues of importance, and to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of specific skills. Students are challenged to think critically, exhibiting much more than knowledge and comprehension. Harlan HS participates in the following UIL Events: Accounting, Calculator Applications, Computer Applications, Computer Science, Current Issues & Events, Film, Literary Criticism, Mathematics, Number Sense, Ready Writing, Science, Social Studies, Spelling and Vocabulary - Journalism: Editorial writing, Feature writing, News writing, Headline writing, Copy Editing - Speech and Debate: Extemporaneous Informative Speaking, Extemporaneous Persuasive Speaking, Prose Interpretation, Poetry Interpretation, Policy Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Congressional Debate, Theatre: One Act Play and Theatrical Design. Practice invitationals, Districts, Regionals and State meets are held virtually and across campus at various times throughout the school year.

CONTACT: cassandra.zuniga@nisd.net