Bella Vista High School, from the San Juan Unified School District, is the winner of the Sacramento County Academic Decathlon competition. Folsom High School (Folsom Cordova Unified School District) finished second in the local competition and Pleasant Grove High School (Elk Grove Unified School District) placed third.
Bella Vista now advances to the California Academic Decathlon State Finals, which will be held March 20-23, 2014 in Sacramento. (Folsom and Pleasant Grove High School's high scores also qualify them to advance to the state competition alongside Bella Vista.)
California's winning team is eligible to advance to the U.S. Academic Decathlon April 24-26, 2014 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David W. Gordon announced individual and team winners of the 34th Annual Sacramento County Academic Decathlon, held February 1 at Inderkum High School. The top scorers were honored February 4 at an awards banquet presented by the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) at the CSU Sacramento University Union Ballroom. Kevin Riggs, Senior Vice President for Randall Communications, served as banquet emcee.
SAFE Credit Union provided $10,000 in scholarships to be distributed among top-scoring students. SAFE President Henry Wirz was on hand to personally congratulate all participants.
Twenty-six high schools in Sacramento County sent teams to compete February 1 in written and oral exams at Inderkum High School. To prepare for the Academic Decathlon, students devoted months of study to the 2014 theme, "World War I." Questions asked at the live Super Quiz were posed by SCOE Communications Director Tim Herrera, who served as the Quiz Master. The Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) will rebroadcast the Super Quiz five times this March on Sacramento Comcast/Surewest (broadcast schedule at left).
Students competed for awards in 10 demanding academic categories: economics, art, science, social science, language/literature, mathematics, music, essay, interview, and speech. Students received gold, silver or bronze medals for their efforts.
Each high school Academic Decathlon team is comprised of nine students—three with "A" grade averages, three with "B" averages and three with "C" averages—who compete against those with the same grade average. Coaches are local high school teachers. Academic "Decathletes" not only grow in academic achievement; they learn about teamwork, goal-setting, planning and leadership.
2014 Photos and Multimedia
- Scrimmage photo gallery
- Team photos gallery
- Super Quiz photo gallery
- SECC TV's re-broadcast of the Super Quiz
- Awards Banquet photo gallery
- Student speeches (YouTube playlist)
Top-Scoring Teams
- 1st Place: Bella Vista High School (San Juan Unified School District)
- 2nd Place: Folsom High School (Folsom Cordova Unified School District)
- 3rd Place: Pleasant Grove High School (Elk Grove Unified School District)
- 4th Place: Monterey Trail High School (Elk Grove Unified School District)
- 5th Place: Del Campo High School (San Juan Unified School District)
Schools Placing Highest in the Super Quiz
- 1st Place: Folsom High School (Folsom Cordova Unified School District)
- 2nd Place: Bella Vista High School (San Juan Unified School District)
- 3rd Place: Pleasant Grove High School (Elk Grove Unified School District)
School with Most Improved Score
- Monterey Trail High School (Elk Grove Unified School District)
Team Results
The Sacramento County Academic Decathlon is coordinated by the Sacramento County Office of Education with the assistance of community volunteers. Additional information is available by phoning the Sacramento County Office of Education at (916) 228-2660 or emailing Craig Irish.