LOWER LAKE, Calif. – With months of preparation and coaching behind them, some of the county's best young minds will be putting their wits to the test in the county's annual Academic Decathlon competition.

The Lake and Mendocino College-Going Initiative Academic Decathlon will take place on Saturday, Jan. 29, and Saturday, Feb. 5, at Lower Lake High School.

This event is modeled after the Olympics by stimulating academic achievement and honoring “athletes of the mind.”

Approximately 75 high school students from 8 teams in Lake, Mendocino and Colusa counties will compete, and each county will send their top-scoring team to the state competition.

The first portion of the competition – not open to the public – will take place Jan. 29 and will consist of a series of academic assessments including written tests in eight subjects, an interview, prepared and impromptu speeches, and an essay. Fifty volunteers from the community will judge these competitions.

This will be followed by the Feb. 5 Super Quiz and awards ceremony. The public is invited to attend on Saturday, February 5, at 3:45 p.m., in the new Lower Lake High School Gym.

In addition to the Super Quiz and awards ceremony, five Lodge at Blue Lakes Scholarships in the amount of $250 each will be awarded.

The Lower Lake High School jazz band and concert choir, The Blue Notes, will perform, and there will be a Poster and Poetry contest display.

Additionally, there will be a 50/50 raffle with proceeds going to the winning Lake County team to help with travel to the state competition.

Sponsors of the event include The Lodge at Blue Lakes, Rosa d’ Oro, Steele, Fetzer, Moore Family, and Six Sigma Wineries, University of California San Francisco, Lake County Office of Education and Cecil’s Take N Bake Pizza.

For information on the Lake and Mendocino Academic Decathlon, please visit www.lakecoe.org/cgi or call 707-262-4162.

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