Academic Decathlon to compete at district meet

Junior+Brendan+Glascock+and+other+Ac+Dec+students+take+a+practice+quiz+during+4th+period+on+Dec.+13.+Ac+Dec+will+compete+in+a+district+meet+on+Dec.+16+to+determine+which+nine+students+will+make+the+final+team+for+the+regional+meet+in+January.

Photo by Tatiana Calzado

Junior Brendan Glascock and other Ac Dec students take a practice quiz during 4th period on Dec. 13. Ac Dec will compete in a district meet on Dec. 16 to determine which nine students will make the final team for the regional meet in January.

The 18 members of the Academic Decathlon team will participate in the district Ac Dec meet hosted at the freshman center on Dec. 16. This year, the students will be tested on various categories related to Africa.

“We got access to the new material last May,” Ac Dec coach and English teacher Donna Friend said. “This year, we have a guide for African History, and a guide for…diseases that are most common in Africa, and a guide to African art.”

The meet is a district level competition. Ac Dec members will be competing against students of the other four LISD high schools. This year, the team said its biggest competition is Marcus High School.

“I’m excited,” junior Ac Dec co-captain Brendan Glasscock said. “I have one rival at Marcus High School. I beat her by literally two questions last meet, and I feel like she’s coming back with a vengeance.”

After this meet, students will participate in the regional competition in January, where only nine members will compete. This meet will be used to determine who makes the final team.

“We want the highest scorer, but we also want to see someone who has grown,” Ac Dec coach and AP Humanities teacher Travis Zuber said. “If you stay the same, you didn’t grow, and someone below you — maybe just a few points below you — grew massively…that tells me they have the potential to grow even further.”

The competitors will take one test for seven different categories. Each test is worth 1,000 points and scoring in the 700 to 1,000 range, according to Ac Dec co-captain Amna Yasin, ensures students will make the team.

“I’m excited because this is where we get to see what our kids have done,” Friend said. “It’ll give us a good idea of who is really ready to be on the team and who is not.”