Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
REDLANDS – This year’s 35th annual San Bernardino County Academic Decathlon competition will take place over two weekend dates – January 27 and February 3 – at Redlands East Valley High School.
With close to 400 high school students competing, this year’s scholastic competition features 41 teams that represent 25 high schools. Both weekends of the competition will take place at Redlands East Valley High, located at 31000 E. Colton Ave. in Redlands.
Students receive points by competing in 10 academic events. There are written tests in the areas of math, economics, music, art, language/literature, science and social science. Students also write an essay, face a panel of interviewers and give impromptu and prepared speeches.
For the finale on February 3, teams compete in a Super Quiz, a college bowl-style event consisting of multiple-choice questions. This year’s overall competition theme is Africa. Chaffey High School from the Chaffey Joint Union High School District is the six-time defending county champion of Academic Decathlon.
Teams consist of nine students, three from each grade-point category: “A” (Honors), “B” (Scholastic) and “C” (Varsity). Students compete for individual and team awards.
This year’s participating high schools and their districts are: Alta Loma High, Chaffey High, Colony High, Etiwanda High, Los Osos High, Montclair High, Ontario High and Rancho Cucamonga High, Chaffey Joint Union High; Ayala High, Chino Hills High and Don Lugo High, Chino Valley Unified; Bloomington High, Colton Joint Unified; Kaiser High, Fontana Unified; Citrus Valley High, Redlands East Valley High and Redlands High, Redlands Unified; Eisenhower High and Rialto High, Rialto Unified; Arroyo Valley High, Pacific High, San Bernardino High and San Gorgonio High, San Bernardino City Unified; and Cobalt Institute of Math and Science and Victor Valley High, Victor Valley Union High. Aquinas High School, a private school, also is participating.
The public is invited to attend the Super Quiz, which begins around 2:30 p.m. on February 3.
Winners and finalists from the Academic Decathlon will be announced at an awards banquet on February 8 at the National Orange Show Events Center. The winning team and possible other qualifiers will represent the county at the statewide Academic Decathlon competition in March.
