On April 27, Granada Hills Charter High School won its third straight Academic Decathlon national championship in a competition held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Granada Hills is only just the second team in the history of Academic Decathlon to win three consecutive national championships. J.J. Pearce High School in Texas was the first to do so in the 1980s.
In Academic Decathlon, teams of nine students compete in seven objective events – math, science, social science, language and literature, economics, art and music – and three subjective events – speech, interview and essay – as well as a Super Quiz event. The nine students are divided into three divisions: Honors (3.75-4.0 GPA), Scholastic (3.0-3.74 GPA) and Varsity (0.0-2.99 GPA).
This year, a rule change allowed El Camino Real Charter High School, the second-place Los Angeles Unified District team and a longtime Granada Hills rival, to participate in the national competition. El Camino Real, a six-time national champion, scored only about 1000 points behind Granada Hills to place second.
“It’s been a difficult year, and I admit our team had its ups and downs, but in the end, it was all worth it. I’m really glad to have spent the year with this team,” said Dayoung Kim, a senior in the Varsity division.
The students not only achieved academic success but more importantly learned how to work together as a team.
“More than anything, being a part of Academic Decathlon demands teamwork. We were able to come this far because we learned to work together as a team,” said Honors division junior Jae Kyung Chong.
While the majority of the team is leaving for college in the fall, some members will be staying behind to try for a history-making fourth championship.
