Sophomores, juniors and seniors from 20 Sacramento area high schools went head-to-head in competition last weekend in the 17th annual Academic Decathlon, a 10-event contest not of brawn, but of brains. Students tested their knowledge in reading, writing and arithmetic — and much, much more.
Individual and team scores were announced at tonight's Academic Decathlon Awards Banquet, held by the Sacramento County Office of Education at the Red Lion Hotel.
Team Rankings
- 1st Place: BELLA VISTA HIGH SCHOOL, coached by Mike Erickson and Arlene Rose.
This marks the eighth time Bella Vista has won in the past nine years. The team will go on to compete at the state level in March, 1997. - 2nd Place: RIO AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL, coached by Richard Thorn
- 3rd Place: J.F. KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL, coached by Jennifer Reynaga
- 4th Place: MIRA LOMA HIGH SCHOOL, coached by David Mathews
- 5th Place: FLORIN HIGH SCHOOL, coached by Susan Verne and Sherry Rubenstein
Students with Overall Best Individual Scores
Gold Medals:
- ALEX STAMOS (Bella Vista)—Honors
- ADAM WHITE (Bella Vista)—Scholastic
- GEOFF NEILL (Rio Americano)—Varsity
Silver Medals:
- Jeffrey Lee (Kennedy)—Honors
- ANDREW NAVARRA (Rio Americano)—Scholastic
- JOSHUA CANNON (Florin)—Varsity
Bronze Medals:
- JUNE-MEI HAN (Kennedy)—Honors
- SCOTT CLAREMON (Rio Americano)—Scholastic
- ANDREW TELLINGTON (Rio Americano)—Varsity
Super Quiz Winners
- 1st Place BELLA VISTA
- 2nd Place KENNEDY
- 3rd Place RIO AMERICANO
Each school's nine-person team, comprised of three Honors ("A" average) students, three Scholastic ("B" average) students, and three Varsity ("C" average) students, competed last Saturday in the 17th annual event sponsored by the Sacramento County Office of Education at American River College. Modeling their efforts after the Olympic Decathlon, students vied for top individual and team scores in 10 different events: Economics, Fine Arts, Science, Social Science, Language, Literature, Mathematics, Essay, Interview, and Speech. The Academic Decathlon, an all-day event, represented months of study and preparation by 180 students and their teacher-coaches.
Schools participating in the 1996 Sacramento County Academic Decathlon were: Center High School (Center District); Elk Grove, Florin, Laguna Creek and Valley High Schools (Elk Grove District); Folsom High (Folsom Cordova District); Galt High School (Galt District); Grant and Rio Linda High Schools (Grant District); Rio Vista High School (River Delta District); Luther Burbank, Hiram Johnson and J.F. Kennedy High Schools (Sacramento City District); and Bella Vista, Casa Roble, Del Campo, El Camino, Encina, Mira Loma and Rio Americano High Schools (San Juan District).