LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This weekend months of study and preparation by three high school Academic Decathlon teams will culminate in the county competition.
The final stage of the Lake County Academic Decathlon will take place Saturday, Feb. 6, in the cafeteria at Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St.
The public is invited to attend the Super Quiz and awards ceremony, beginning at 2 p.m., according to Tammy Serpa, education specialist with Career and College Readiness Department of the Lake County Office of Education. The event is free.
Serpa and Academic Decathlon coordinator Norma Cromwell are overseeing the event's organization.
This year's topic is India, Serpa said.
She said the master of ceremonies for the Super Quiz will be Dr. Ketmani Kouanchao, Mendocino College's dean of student services.
One team each from Clear Lake High School, Kelseyville High School and Upper Lake High School will take part in the Saturday competition, according to Serpa.
“We have 52 students combined participating this year in the decathlon,” Serpa said.
Clear Lake High School comes to the event as the defending champion.
The Academic Decathlon's 10 disciplines include arts, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, mathematics, music, science, social science and speech. In addition, the teams are scored on their Super Quiz performance.
Serpa said there also are poetry and poster production competitions judged by the Lake County Arts Council. Those contests are not scored in the overall competition.
The poems and posters will be on display at the event, and Serpa said they are tangible examples of what the students are learning through the competition.
Serpa said the Academic Decathlon's essay portion, which the students completed on computer, was proctored in January and judged by college professors and retired high school teachers throughout California.
The speech and interview portions of the competition took place last Saturday, also at Kelseyville High School, she said.
All of that is in preparation for the remaining portions of the competition, with the academic decathletes taking those subject exams on Saturday morning, ahead of the Super Quiz, Serpa said.
A number of local organizations are offering sponsorship of the Academic Decathlon once again this year, Serpa said.
She said Mendo Lake Credit Union will offer scholarships of $125, $75 and $50 for the top three interview finishers, with the Lodge at Blue Lakes giving a $100 scholarship to the top scoring student at each school. The Lakeport Lions also offers awards for the top speeches.
The winning team will advance to represent Lake County at the California Academic Decathlon in Sacramento March 17 through 20, Serpa said.
Serpa said the Friends of Mendocino College group will make a donation to the team heading to the state competition.
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Lake County Academic Decathlon takes place Feb. 6; three teams to compete
- Elizabeth Larson
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