On February 4, 2012, at Bret Harte High School in Angels Camp, approximately sixty students from four high schools will compete in the 30th Annual Regional Academic Decathlon Competition. Participating high schools include Bret Harte High School from Angels Camp, Mountain Oaks School from San Andreas, Sonora High School from Sonora, and Summerville High School from Tuolumne.
The Academic Decathlon, the premiere national scholastic competition for high school students, was created to provide opportunities for students to experience the challenges of rigorous team and individual academic competition. Each student competes in ten events which are Economics, Essay, Art, Interview, Language and Literature, Math, Music, Science, Social Science and Speech. Each year the Science or Social Science topic is used as the Super Quiz topic. The competition format of the Super Quiz differs from that of the other subject areas. While students take one written test in each of the other six subjects, they will take two tests in the Super Quiz subject; one written and the other oral. The oral relay portion of the Super Quiz is the only part of the actual testing that is open to the public, and it is inevitably one of the most memorable and exciting parts of the Academic Decathlon competition.
The ten-event academic program strives to foster a greater respect for knowledge, to promote wholesome inter-school academic competition, and to further develop student communication skills. A unique aspect of the Academic Decathlon is that it is designed to include students from all academic abilities and achievement levels. Each nine-member team consists of three “A” (Honor division), three “B” (Scholastic division), and three “C or below” (Varsity division) students. Each team member competes in all ten events against other students in their individual divisions. However, team scores are calculated using the top two individual scores from each division to arrive at an overall team score.
Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded for individual events and total scores. Overall individual winners are recognized as are champion teams. The broad base of awards allows for major recognition of academic accomplishment. Teams advance through local, regional and state levels of competition. The local champions will travel to Sacramento to compete in the state competition on March 15-18, 2012. The state champions compete at the national finals. This year’s national event will take place April 25-28, 2012 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
A new theme of study is established every year with topics that are relevant, current and challenging. This year’s curricular theme is The Age of Empire and the Super Quiz portion of the competition focuses on The Age of Imperialism: The making of a European Global Order, with the featured novel being Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Students will compose an essay based on a prompt whose central theme incorporates information relating to the current curriculum. Students will also perform a prepared speech and impromptu speech and participate in an interview before a panel of community volunteer judges. The Academic Decathlon emphasizes the personal and academic growth of each student who, by meeting the challenges with honesty and integrity, can reap the rewards of greater self-knowledge and self-confidence for the future.
Interested in learning more about the California Academic Decathlon, or want to learn how to become a sponsor or volunteer? Please visit: www.usad.org and/or www.academicdecathlon.org.
Contact information:
Kathy Northington, County Superintendent
Calaveras-Tuolumne Academic Decathlon, Executive Director
185 S. Main Street
Angels Camp, CA 95221
209 736-6008
This student competition is sponsored by the Calaveras County Office of Education (CCOE), as well as the Teichert Foundation. Without the generous donation of the Teichert Foundation, CCOE could not hold this competition without charging each school a participation fee, so we thank Teichert for their contribution. We also could not hold this event without the help of our very dedicated community volunteers who find time in their busy schedule to be available for this event.
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