Academic Decathlon has students thinking about

Dina Gentry EDC Office of Education

The El Dorado County Academic Decathlon returned this month and El Dorado Union High School District students met in person after two years of competing virtually.

The decathletes spent countless hours, beginning last summer, studying the overall topic of this year’s Academic Decathlon —the American Revolution. Teams met during lunch to study and oftentimes set aside time at home to go over the material. With Academic Decathlon, students build their knowledge and college application, but nearly all mentioned the one thing they value most is the friendships created.

“It’s just a great community. We have so many people who are all so smart and willing to help each other and you can just learn so much from each other,” shared Delaney Palmer, decathlete at Union Mine.

Feb. 1 saw El Dorado, Oak Ridge, Ponderosa and Union Mine high schools compete in two of the 10 events: Speech and Interview. The Essay portion was completed online and the seven remaining events took place Saturday, Feb. 4.

Speech and Interview both require students to present to a panel of two to three judges. Speech features two sub-events: Prepared Speech and Impromptu Speech, the former focusing on a topic chosen and researched by the student and the latter chosen at competition time with only one minute to prepare. Interview requires judges to ask pre-determined questions. For both events, students must present proficiently and confidently.

Last Wednesday evening competing students gathered in the Union Mine cafeteria and studied until it was their time to compete. Coaches made sure students were prepared and composed and excitedly sent them off one by one to present to the judges. The evening concluded with pizza from Pizza Plus, with students, coaches and judges all sitting together to enjoy a meal.

Saturday’s events ran all day, with students in the gymnasium taking tests on topics including art, music, literature, science, math, social science and economics. The Academic Decathlon concluded with a fun Super Quiz event and an awards ceremony. Results will be reported in a future issue of the Mountain Democrat.

The entire series of events would not be possible without the help of volunteers. Speech and Interview judges are composed of volunteers, some new and some returning. Saturday saw more volunteers as presenters during the awards ceremony, including Assessor Jon DeVille, Sheriff Jeff Leikauf, the Honorable Judge Dylan Sullivan and

Supervisor Wendy Thomas.

EDUHSD Assistant

Superintendent of Educational Services Chris Moore acted as Super Quiz Master. The Kiwanis Club of Placerville provided a barbecue lunch for all, as well as multiple volunteers throughout the competition.

“I am proud of the commitment and dedication of the decathletes and their coaches competing here today,” said El Dorado County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ed Manansala. “I would also like to acknowledge the many EDCOE team members, community volunteers and sponsors involved. This is truly a community event celebrating the very best of education in El Dorado County.”