The Academic Decathlon team recently took home first place at their regional competition against Priest River at the end of January. They are currently preparing for the state competition, taking place in mid-March, which will determine whether or not they have a place at nationals.

Competitions for AcaDeca are comprised of seven multiple choice tests, a fifteen minute timed essay that is taken in class before the competition, a three and a half to four minute prepared speech, a one and a half to two minute impromptu speech, and finally an interview.

AcaDeca is separated into a nine-person team, which is divided into sections of three by GPA. The lowest GPA bracket is called varsity (students with GPAs below 3.0), the middle called the scholastic bracket (students with a GPA between 3.0 and 3.74), and finally the honors bracket holds the three students with the highest GPAs of 3.75 and above.

This year, the main AcaDeca team is comprised of only eight members, as they are lacking a qualified student at the varsity level.

The top two scores of each division are added up for a team total and compared to the scores of teams from other schools in order to determine which team  goes to nationals.

Preparation for the competitions involve intensive studying, and activities such as jeopardy games to become more familiar with a competitive environment. Students additionally take a practice test before each meet in order get an idea of where they are at, and how much left they have to study.

“We are studying Africa this year so we’re hitting everything at this point —art, music, literature, Stockman said, “Today we did a presentation on a science section.”

Students have been able to further benefit from AcaDeca outside an academic standpoint. Involvement in AcaDeca additionally allows the students to develop their personal communication skills through speeches and interviews.

French teacher Dana Stockman is in her third year of coaching AcaDeca this year, and shared her aspirations for this year’s team.

“Last year we lost by 235 points out of 60,000,” Stockman said, “It sounds like a lot but we lost by a whisker.”

Stockman and her team are hoping to win state this year against Sugar-Salem High School, and move on to the national competition which will take place in Frisco, Texas this year.