The Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) is announcing that the Board of Education has accepted a $10,000 donation from SAFE Credit Union. The funds will be used to provide scholarships to participants in the 2007 Sacramento County Academic Decathlon.
"We are grateful to SAFE Credit Union for the organization's generosity in promoting academics and honoring student achievement in Sacramento County," said David W. Gordon, Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools.
"SAFE Credit Union is proud to support an event that encourages the youth in our communities to showcase their outstanding achievements in academia," said Henry Wirz, CEO, SAFE Credit Union.
The Sacramento County Academic Decathlon, held on the first Saturday in February of each year, is an academic competition open to high school students from all school districts in Sacramento County. The 27th Annual Academic Decathlon is scheduled for Saturday, February 3, 2007, at Valley High School in the Elk Grove Unified School District.
The theme of the 2007 Academic Decathlon is "China and Its Influence on the World."
The scholarship awards for the 27th Annual Academic Decathlon are as follows:
- SAFE Credit Union First-Place Team scholarship in the amount of $400 to each member of the first-place team.
- SAFE Credit Union Second-Place Team scholarship in the amount of $200 to each member of the second-place team.
- SAFE Credit Union Third-Place Team scholarship in the amount of $100 to each member of the third-place team.
- SAFE Credit Union Top-Scoring Team Member scholarship in the amount of $100 to the highest-scoring decathlete on each remaining team.
Student decathletes participate as a nine-member team against other schools by taking multiple-choice tests in economics, language and literature, music, science, art, mathematics, and social science. The competition concludes with a high-energy team event called the Super Quiz, which is open to the public. Individual and team award medals are presented at an awards banquet, and the overall winning team from the county competition is invited to participate in the statewide California Academic Decathlon.
The California Academic Decathlon is a statewide nonprofit organization that promotes an educational experience providing a format in which teams of high school students compete in academic events. All California public and private high schools are eligible to compete. There are currently over 500 high schools in 42 counties and districts participating in the California Academic Decathlon.
For information about the Sacramento County Academic Decathlon, call (916) 228-2660.