SBCSS News and Press Releases

Redlands High Competes in Academic Decathlon State Championship

2005-03-25

SAN BERNARDINO - Redlands High School, nine-time champion from San Bernardino County, will be one of 50 teams around the state competing in the California Academic Decathlon championships March 10-13 in Los Angeles.

The Redlands team has competed in the state championships in three of the last four years. In its last state competition in 2003, it placed 19th out of a field of 50 schools.

This year, Redlands enters with the 18th highest score from the county competitions around the state with 40,864 points. Moorpark High School of Ventura County enters as the top-scoring qualifying program in the state with 48,692.4 points.

The 2004 champion was El Camino Real High School from Los Angeles Unified School District. It also won the national championship ñ the second consecutive by California schools.

This yearís state champion will advance to the national finals in Chicago on April 13-16.

Academic Decathlon teams are composed of nine students, three each from grade point average categories of ìAî (Honors), ìBî (Scholastic) and ìCî (Varsity). There are written tests in the areas of math, economics, science, language/literature, music, art and social science. Students also write an essay, faced a panel of interviewers and give impromptu and prepared speeches.

For the finale, teams compete at UCLA in a Super Quiz, a college bowl-style event consisting of multiple-choice questions.

Gold, silver and bronze medals are presented to the top three students in each category for every event. Medals are awarded to overall individual winners in each division. Team awards are presented to the top three Super Quiz teams. The top three overall teams are presented with Division Awards.

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