On Saturday, February 4th, sixty-three schools competed in the L.A. Unified Academic Decathlon competition at Roybal Learning Center in downtown Los Angeles. From early in the morning, the decathletes competed with their knowledge in seven subjects: math, science, language and literature, economics, art, music, and social sciences.
The United States Academic Decathlon is an annual high school academic competition consisting of three subjective events and seven objective events. The three subjective events – interview, speech, and essay – are graded by judges, and the seven objective events are in the form of multiple-choice tests. An Academic Decathlon team consists of nine members who are divided into three groups: Honors (3.75–4.00 GPA), Scholastic (3.00–3.74 GPA), and Varsity (0.00–2.99 GPA).
This year’s Academic Decathlon theme is “The Age of Imperialism.” The final test, called Super Quiz, is the only public event in decathlon; it is a relay event in which the three divisions, Honors, Scholastic, and Varsity, take turns answering questions. Each division gets ten questions to answer, and only the two highest scores in each division are counted toward the final collective score of the team. Hundreds of parents, teachers, and students filed into the auditorium of Roybal Learning Center to watch the riveting competition and cheer for their school’s team.
Granada Hills Charter High School came in first in Super Quiz with a total score of 57 points out of a possible 60, followed by Franklin High and Garfield High. Granada Hills High was also last year’s national Academic Decathlon champion, and their success seems to be continuing. However, their achievement did not come without consistent hard-work and tenacity. The nine members have been preparing since summer vacation, spending around 30 hours a week studying for the ten subjects.
Success in decathlon definitely does not come easily, according to Hamidah Mahmud, an 11th grader on Granada’s Honors division. “Success in a competition like decathlon doesn’t depend on one day or one event or one test. It depends on all the work and focus leading up to it,” she said. “Those long, dedicated days of uninterrupted study really determine how far a team will get.”
But decathlon isn’t all about academic achievement. It also teaches students to work as a team, build better study habits, and overall, have fun with the subjects they’re studying. For Stella Lee, a 12th grader on Granada’s Varsity division, the competition on Saturday “was exhilarating and an experience she’ll never forget.”
The final results of the competition will be announced on the 9th of February. The results will determine which schools will compete in the state competition in March, and the top school in the state competition will compete in the national finals in April.
[Update, February 9: The Granada Hills Academic Decathlon team was awarded first place in the LAUSD competition and will be advancing to the state competition.]
