Lower Lake High School”s Academic Decathlon team, which finished second to Upper Lake Union High School last Saturday, Feb. 2, has been invited to the state competition scheduled for March 7-10 at California State University Sacramento.
LLHS was the top-scoring silver medal winner in Division III, outscoring some other counties” winners, according to Robin Totorica of the Lake County Office of Education.
Upper Lake”s overall winning score at the Feb. 2 County Academic Decathlon competition was 34,939 out of a possible 60,000 points to take the win. Lower Lake scored 32,205 in its silver-winning performance.
In 2007, the LLHS team handed Upper Lake its first loss in nearly a decade, which interrupted Upper Lake”s longtime dominance.
In 2006, Lower Lake also placed second to Upper Lake in the Lake County competition but thanks to its high score, Lower Lake was invited to the state competition as part of its new 55-team format.
“The whole county should be proud of the hard work and achievement of both the high school teams. I think Academic Decathlon is a great way to provide students a chance to demonstrate their skills and compare themselves to the rest of the state,” Superintendent of Schools David Geck said.
Academic Decathlon teams begin their studies in March and continue through February. “It”s not just an event ? it”s a real commitment to being the best that they can be in terms of academic performance. It”s great that we have the opportunity to have two teams competing at the state level,” Geck said.
“Participating in Academic Decathlon takes an amazing amount of dedication and countless hours ? it”s really for the hardiest of students,” LLHS history teacher and Academic Decathlon coach Nancy Harby said.
The team receives a theme in March and begins predicting what the literature section of the competition will include, even before receiving detailed outlines.
LLHS senior and top academic decathlon team member Kate Lyons holds a silver medal in the 2006 state-wide competition. She said participating in Academic Decathlon helps students better prepare for college. Lyons has applied to four UCs and hopes to attend UC Berkeley or UCLA.
“It”s a good thing to put on a college application. I”ve found it”s a really fun atmosphere where academics are really valued and encouraged,” Lyons said, speaking of the local and state-wide competitions.
Lyons acts as a peer coach in music, her specialty, and said her favorite theme was 2006”s “Renaissance.” Last year the theme was China and this year it”s the Civil War.
“Each subject is really like taking a mini college seminar ? it”s an elective (students enroll in), but we regard ourselves as a secret society,” Harby said.
To prepare for the state competition, Lower Lake”s Academic Decathlon team is “studying and trying to come up with better test taking techniques,” Lyons said. “We”re trying to improve in every competition, do the best we can and work the hardest we can. I”m very proud of my teammates, and very happy for the other teams in the county that always do so well.”
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
