Academic Decathlon is preparing for another season of competition, but similar to the last few years, they are struggling to gather a full team and sustain commitment for all the members.
Academic Decathlons a ten-event scholastic competition for high school students who are interested in working in teams, getting involved in new environments and around new people, and learning study skills and time management.
Each high school enters a team of nine students: 3 Honor (3.750 – 4.00 GPA), 3 Scholastic (3.00 – 3.749 GPA), and 3 Varsity (0.00 – 2.999 GPA). Filling the Scholastic spots has always been easier than the other two because most students fall in that GPA range. However, this year, selecting the three Honor students will be challenging because most of the senior members are straight-A students.
Coach Cynthia Tiscareno will have to decide between seniors Denisse Pedroza, Nelly Perez, Yuliza Vidaca, Viviana Loza, and Carina Loza. However, like the past years, finding committed Varsity students will be hard.
Coach Tiscareno stated, “It’s hard to find reliable, committed students that want to be academically challenged”.
The topic that the team prepares for changes every year. Last year, the topic was Africa and they needed to study Things Fall Apart and other related content. This year, the topic is the 1960’s.
Those students involved in this competitive team must commit and know what Acadeca is all about.
Senior, captain, and four-year member, Nelly Perez stated, “ I like it because I get to compete with other schools and it’s a way for me to explore other subjects rather than just one. I feel comfortable with the people surrounding me that I’ve come back every year to be part of the team.”
Like any other sport on campus, the team must make sacrifices like staying three to four times a week after school for two hours, giving up their free time. Also, they sacrifice certain Saturdays per month to go to HIPP workshops that will prepare them for competition. These HIPP workshops are from 8:00 am up to 3:00pm like if it was another day of school. It’s all dedication.
Senior and three-year member, Denisse Pedroza, stated, “At times, it does get difficult to manage everything going on in my academic life but since I am an organized person, I usually have everything under control. The reason I am a part of AcaDeca is because it’s helped me become a more confident public speaker and because I enjoy being a part of a team.”
This organization is different and unique because students get to meet many dedicated and interesting people that will help them become a more well-rounded person.
“I joined my sophomore year because I wanted to challenge myself and it was the first team I have ever been part of. I joined in hopes of improving my habits in order to be prepared for the future,” stated Vanessa Vazquez, senior.
Written by, Yuliza Vidaca, Staff Writer