The UHS Academic Decathlon team earned first place at the Central Regional competition and is looking forward to State. Academic Decathlon is an extracurricular activity and elective that is led by coach Carrie Baird-Forristall. Students widen their horizons by familiarising themselves with subjects such as art, literature, economics, science, math, and more. Each year hosts a new theme this year’s being “In Sickness and in Health: An Exploration of Illness and Wellness.” Each of the topics that the team members studied was related to health and mortality.
According to Carson Burright UHS Senior, “It’s pretty fun. You learn a lot of new facts you would have never learned in school and meet a lot of new, great people.”
The Regional competition was held on January 20th and 21st. On the 20th, the speech and interview portion of the competition was at Johnston High School. The following day, the team took a series of tests based on everything they had the opportunity to study. Once the tests were completed, the team participated in the Super Quiz. This event gave the teams a chance to work together to answer various questions.
“It was nerve-racking but we got to meet people from other schools and bonded as a team,” says Blair Liveringhouse, UHS Senior .
By the end of the afternoon, the results were in and it was time to see how the teams performed. Damon Dury and Lexi Carter both earned two awards for their hard work in the science, art, literature, and economics sections. Shay Kent was awarded with bronze in the honors literature division. Chris Ledo won an impressive six awards in his division. Devin Ensley won bronze in the scholastic speech section. Finally, Blair Liveringhouse was congratulated with a whopping nine awards. The team won first overall in the regional competition guaranteeing them a spot at state.
For those interested in taking Academic Decathlon as a class, it is offered in the fall next school year. It is available to take as an elective or opposite PE. Students are encouraged to talk to Mrs. Forristall about joining the Academic Decathlon class or club. The school will be cheering for the team at state on March 6-7th.
urbandaletimes.wordpress.com 