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In light of recent events that only apply to a small number of people, have you heard of the Academic Decathlon? Or, more specifically, United States Academic Decathlon. If you have, great! You can stop reading now. If you haven't, I'm going to tell you about it.
To get a basic feel for it, read its name. Decathlon. You know what that is, right? In sports it is a sporting thing with ten events. In Academics, it's the same thing. Ten events, in this case, subjects. Ten academic events. Get it? Anyways, these ten subjects are subcategories of the "mother-subject." For example, this year's "mother-subject" was Russia, and we learned about the History of Russia, the Language and Literature of Russia, the Economics of Russia, Science was the Space Race, etc.
In my high school, Academic Decathlon (nicknamed 'AcaDec') serves as our English class and we spend the first semester dedicated to studying the three-inch thick binder about Russia (or the Age of Imperialism, or World War I, or whatever the "mother-subject" happens to be). At the beginning of the year, our class was divided into three categories based on Grade Point Average (GPA). Those with the highest GPA (4.0+) were called 'Honors,' then 3.0-4.0 GPA were called Scholastic, and 2.0-3.0 GPA was called Varsity. Any lower GPA could not participate in the team.
When we reached the end of semester one, we took a final on each subject, and these finals, in turn, determined where we placed on the official team. The three highest scores in each GPA category were placed on the 'Team,' having nine members in total. The three second-highest scores in each GPA category were placed in another group of nine, called the 'Official Alternates.' Everyone else was titled 'Unofficial Alternates.'
Now, our Team had an unusual situation. In the entire class, there were only two Varsity students. Instead of a full Team of nine, we only had a Team of eight. So, our coach, pulled me aside and requested that I 'encourage' my boyfriend (who happens to be one of the most intelligent people I have ever met) to consider joining the Team and helping us out. With a bit of pleading and puppy-eyes, my boyfriend reluctantly agreed, not looking forward to the large workload involved with the cramming and speech-writing involved.
However, he pulled through, and the day came to ship off to the Regional competition. Because of our small county size, we only have two high schools in our county. Therefore, our school only had to defeat one school who's AcaDec Team was smaller than nine and an after school club. It was a cinch, and we had beaten them nine years in a row, hoping for ten. We did compete against two other schools, but neither is in our county. We all competed in Regionals, though two of the four schools would move on to State.
The main part of the competition is the tests. We tested on seven or eight academic subjects, each test taking a half an hour long. The entire team took part in this. Next, the Unofficial Alternates completed their portion of the competition, and the Official Alternates (including myself) and the Team moved on to conduct an interview, deliver a prepared 3.5 min speech, and create and deliver a 1.5 min impromptu speech. For the last part of the competition, the Official Alternates dropped out, and only the Team moved on to compete in Super Quiz. The Super Quiz is a compilation of the other subjects, and each GPA group in each school's Team went up to answer questions in front of a crowd. The Varsity students began, then the Scholastic students, and finally the Honors.
With the competition concluded, we all milled about, enjoying our break before the awards ceremony. They awarded a bronze, silver, and gold medal to each GPA category in each subject, bronze, silver, and gold medals for the overall scores of the Official Alternates (I got silver!), an overall student award, and an overall school trophy. My school swept it easily, counting as our tenth Regionals victory.
Just today, the State competition began. This is a three day long event, and one that our school only permits the Team and the highest scoring Official Alternate to attend (I was the highest score in Regionals who didn't get to go). The Team will repeat the process they performed at Regionals, only on a more prestigious scale. I am hoping for the best! Wish us luck and thanks for reading!
In light of recent events that only apply to a small number of people, have you heard of the Academic Decathlon? Or, more specifically, United States Academic Decathlon. If you have, great! You can stop reading now. If you haven't, I'm going to tell you about it.
To get a basic feel for it, read its name. Decathlon. You know what that is, right? In sports it is a sporting thing with ten events. In Academics, it's the same thing. Ten events, in this case, subjects. Ten academic events. Get it? Anyways, these ten subjects are subcategories of the "mother-subject." For example, this year's "mother-subject" was Russia, and we learned about the History of Russia, the Language and Literature of Russia, the Economics of Russia, Science was the Space Race, etc.
In my high school, Academic Decathlon (nicknamed 'AcaDec') serves as our English class and we spend the first semester dedicated to studying the three-inch thick binder about Russia (or the Age of Imperialism, or World War I, or whatever the "mother-subject" happens to be). At the beginning of the year, our class was divided into three categories based on Grade Point Average (GPA). Those with the highest GPA (4.0+) were called 'Honors,' then 3.0-4.0 GPA were called Scholastic, and 2.0-3.0 GPA was called Varsity. Any lower GPA could not participate in the team.
When we reached the end of semester one, we took a final on each subject, and these finals, in turn, determined where we placed on the official team. The three highest scores in each GPA category were placed on the 'Team,' having nine members in total. The three second-highest scores in each GPA category were placed in another group of nine, called the 'Official Alternates.' Everyone else was titled 'Unofficial Alternates.'
Now, our Team had an unusual situation. In the entire class, there were only two Varsity students. Instead of a full Team of nine, we only had a Team of eight. So, our coach, pulled me aside and requested that I 'encourage' my boyfriend (who happens to be one of the most intelligent people I have ever met) to consider joining the Team and helping us out. With a bit of pleading and puppy-eyes, my boyfriend reluctantly agreed, not looking forward to the large workload involved with the cramming and speech-writing involved.
However, he pulled through, and the day came to ship off to the Regional competition. Because of our small county size, we only have two high schools in our county. Therefore, our school only had to defeat one school who's AcaDec Team was smaller than nine and an after school club. It was a cinch, and we had beaten them nine years in a row, hoping for ten. We did compete against two other schools, but neither is in our county. We all competed in Regionals, though two of the four schools would move on to State.
The main part of the competition is the tests. We tested on seven or eight academic subjects, each test taking a half an hour long. The entire team took part in this. Next, the Unofficial Alternates completed their portion of the competition, and the Official Alternates (including myself) and the Team moved on to conduct an interview, deliver a prepared 3.5 min speech, and create and deliver a 1.5 min impromptu speech. For the last part of the competition, the Official Alternates dropped out, and only the Team moved on to compete in Super Quiz. The Super Quiz is a compilation of the other subjects, and each GPA group in each school's Team went up to answer questions in front of a crowd. The Varsity students began, then the Scholastic students, and finally the Honors.
With the competition concluded, we all milled about, enjoying our break before the awards ceremony. They awarded a bronze, silver, and gold medal to each GPA category in each subject, bronze, silver, and gold medals for the overall scores of the Official Alternates (I got silver!), an overall student award, and an overall school trophy. My school swept it easily, counting as our tenth Regionals victory.
Just today, the State competition began. This is a three day long event, and one that our school only permits the Team and the highest scoring Official Alternate to attend (I was the highest score in Regionals who didn't get to go). The Team will repeat the process they performed at Regionals, only on a more prestigious scale. I am hoping for the best! Wish us luck and thanks for reading!
As a brief follow up for those who care:
ReplyDeleteMy school competed in the State competition well, though we won no medals, sadly. Everyone performed admirably, we just don't have the resources that other people do. And if you talk to my coach, he'll say that it wasn't ranked fairly. Ah well, it was still fun! Especially the part where I got to tag along and spend the night with my Team! Wooh!