The Academic Decathlon team won 36 medals in total at Tustin High School on Jan. 27 and at Westminster high school on Feb. 3. The students started these competitions bright and early at 8:30 A.M., nervous, but ready to be a fierce competitor.
Academic Decathlon is a group of students who meet weekly to study a curriculum assigned to them by the national Academic Decathlon organization. The topic for this year is Technology and Humanity.
As they meet every week, students study various subjects with the overall topic in mind.
“For example, the science portion this year was related to the brain, as that is what we find to be most affected by technology in this day and age,” says Michela Adams (10).
For the first competition located at Tustin High School, they were competing against many other intelligent students from schools like University and Woodbridge high school. Most competitions lasted around four hours but some stayed longer for the second competition at Westminster to participate in a Super Quiz.
The Super Quiz is an added team game style competition where nine students are split into three groups. These groups include varsity, scholastic and honors. These students then take part and go against other students from different schools to try to answer questions the fastest.
For each competition, they are required to study and be prepared for 10 different subjects where they will take multiple choice tests, give a prepared speech and write an essay. Despite the immense amount of pressure and stress students in Academic Decathlon endure during a competition, they were still able to persevere and win.
Students spent many hours rehearsing and practicing, focusing on subjects they want to excel the most in. There are resources published and provided by teachers as well as in person meetings that help students thrive.
Ms. Terhardt says, “This year is the most medals and highest scores we have received in the past three years since Ms. Lee and I have been the coaches.”
Both teachers make a dynamic duo and help guide the team to success. They hold each student accountable and strive for greatness. Ms. Terhardt and Ms. Lee are so incredibly proud of their students and admire their passion and excitement to learn.
As a team, they won a total of 36 medals. Students can get a medal if they score the highest on a subject test. The Aliso Niguel team won first place on the Super Quiz and placed third overall in the entire division.
When asked her favorite moment of the competition, Michela responded, “carpooling with my teammates to the competitions as well as rehearsing our speeches to each other before we went in front of the panel of judges.”
Many students like Michela love to challenge themselves and others through academics, bringing a good, positive learning environment that is diverse and widespread. Students who partake in Academic Decathlon make new and exciting memories that will forever improve them for the rest of their lives.
