Bella Vista High School, from San Juan Unified School District, is the winner of the 2015 Sacramento County Academic Decathlon. The team now advances to the California Academic Decathlon State Finals, to be held in Sacramento March 20-21.
Folsom High School (Folsom Cordova Unified) finished second in the local competition and Pleasant Grove High School (Elk Grove Unified) placed third. The high scores earned by Folsom and Pleasant Grove High School qualify them to advance to the state competition alongside Bella Vista. California's winning team will advance to the U.S. Academic Decathlon April 16-18 in Garden Grove, CA.
Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David W. Gordon announced individual and team winners (shown below) on February 10 at an awards ceremony at CSU Sacramento. Kevin Riggs, Senior Vice President for Randall Communications, served as 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.
Hundreds of Sacramento County high school students, along with students from Placer County, competed in the 35th annual Sacramento County Academic Decathlon, held February 7 at Inderkum High School. A total of 23 Sacramento County teams participated. Three Placer County teams also competed against each other and were scored separately.
To prepare for the Academic Decathlon, students devoted months of study to this year's theme: "New Alternatives in Energy: Ingenuity and Innovation." Students competed for awards in 10 categories: economics, art, science, social science, language/literature, mathematics, music, essay, interview, and speech. Questions asked at the live Super Quiz were posed by Fox 40 morning host Paul Robins.
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.
2015 Photos and Multimedia
Top-Scoring Teams
- 1st Place: Bella Vista High School (San Juan Unified)
- 2nd Place: Folsom High School (Folsom Cordova Unified)
- 3rd Place: Pleasant Grove High School (Elk Grove Unified)
- 4th Place: Del Campo High School (San Juan Unified)
- 5th Place: Sheldon High School (Elk Grove Unified)
Schools Placing Highest in the Super Quiz
- 1st Place: Folsom High School (Folsom Cordova Unified)
- 2nd Place: Del Campo High School (San Juan Unified)
- 3rd Place: Bella Vista High School (San Juan Unified)
School with Most Improved Score
- Del Campo High School (San Juan Unified)
Team Results
The Sacramento County Academic Decathlon is coordinated by SCOE staff and community volunteers. Additional information is available by calling or emailing Craig Irish: (916) 228-2660.