Academic Decathlon

Congratulations to our 2019/20 Academic Decathlon Team!
8th Place Current Events
10th Place English
10th Place Literature
8th Place Science
10th Super Quiz (team event)
18th Place overall
out of 100 schools

Great job team! We are so proud of you!

2013 - 2014	8th Place Religion 3rd Place English 8th Place Current Events 7th Place Literature
2014 - 2015	8th Place Science 5th Place English 10th Place Logic(team event) 18th Place Overall
2015 - 2016	4th Place Math 8th Place English 7th Place Literature
2016 - 2017	1st Place Math 1st Place Current Events 3rd Place English 8th Place Religion 10th Super Quiz (team event) 14th Place Overall
2017-2018	6th Place English 10th Place Math 8th Place Science 17th Place Overall
2018-2019	6th Place Current Events 7th Place Math 8th Place English 3rd Place Fine Arts 6th Place Literature

The Junior High Academic Decathlon Program Mission:
As Catholic school educators, we affirm that each young person entrusted to our care has been endowed by God with marvelous intellectual gifts and talents. The California Catholic Schools’ Academic Junior High Decathlon (or AJHD) strives to bring forth some of those academic talents and celebrate them in the context of spirit-filled competition.

The five goals of the Academic Decathlon Program are:

to promote academic excellence;

to promote collaborative spirit and cooperative learning skills;

to promote logical and higher order thinking;
to recognize the contributions of parents, teachers, school administrators, and business and community members in supporting high standards for all students;

to celebrate the diversity, excellence, and tradition of Catholic schools

Academic Decathlon Head Coach: Coach Greta Manzano

Program Overview:

The Academic Junior High Decathlon is an academic competition designed for Catholic students in grades 6-8. There are ten events that take place within the one-day competition. Two of the events are collaborative, team efforts: the Logic Quiz and the Super Quiz. The ten team members work together on both the Logic Quiz and the Super Quiz. The other eight events are individual events : Religion, English and Spelling, Literature, Science, Mathematics, Current Events, Social Studies, and Fine Arts (Art and or Music). There are eight team members who also take individual tests and two team members which are designated as the Members at Large who only compete in the team events(Logic and Super Quiz).

Participant/Team Member Responsibilities:

The team includes ten (10) team members. Membership on the team in 7th grade does not guarantee membership on the team in 8th grade. Each year a new set of tests are reviewed to determine eligibility.

Each of the eight individual subject areas (Math, Science, Literature, English and Spelling, Social Studies, Religion, Fine Arts, and Current Events) will have one team member who will compete on behalf of the school. Each of those students will work with an advising coach but will be independently accountable for the study and retention of the subject area material. Two students will serve as members-at-large for the team components (Logic and Super Quiz) and will not represent the school on an individual basis. These two students will be responsible for 5 academic subjects(religion, fine arts, science, social studies, literature). Any student who qualifies for the team not only has to study their individual academic subject but must become proficient in logic. This portion of the decathlon event contains Sudoku, Ken ken, Cryptograms, Algebra word problems, Anagrams, Spatial reasoning, Patterns & graphs, Probability Lateral thinking, Logic grids, Venn diagrams, Rebus puzzles.

Participation in this program requires focus, dedication, and hard work! Team members must be motivated to study independently as well as with other members of the team. Academic Decathlon is a team competition. Each member is required to meet the expectations so as to support the team as a whole. Together this team will succeed and individualism is not a trait that works well within this program. Team members are expected to maintain their regular school responsibilities including homework, projects, and assessments. Team members and their parents should not expect teachers to make exceptions or extend deadlines for regular school work so team members should plan study sessions and balance regular school work accordingly. It is best that team members put in effort early in the Decathlon season (October – January) in order to avoid stressful studying as we get close to the competition date(March). The most successful team members are those who plan and organize their study material in a manner that spreads it out over many months versus at the end of the program.

Parent Responsibilities:

Once the team is announced in late October, this program becomes intense and parent participation is required of all participants. The decathlon program is one where the experience one enjoys is the direct result of what that person puts into the program. It is highly recommended that parents get involved with their child’s studying effort as early as October. We recommend that the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays include some studying so as to spread out the workload more reasonably. This is the kind of program that requires a very intense, hands-on approach from parents in support of their children. If helping your child study for Decathlon is not of interest to you then the academic decathlon program is likely not a good fit for your family.

In order to make this program run smoothly, we need a parent who is willing to take on the responsibility of Team Parent/ Coordinator. Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

coordinating the weekly breakfast schedule for morning practices
working with Michael’s Uniforms from start to finish including designing a sweatshirt that includes the school’s logo and the names of the team members. The coordinator will prepare and communicate the order form and instructions to the parents and team members, will collect the orders and will distribute the orders when they arrive. This person will also work with Mrs. Lance to coordinate the deposit of checks and payment to the vendor. (November)
scheduling Friday evening/weekend practices at team member homes. These practices are designed to foster a team mentality and are run by the host family. (January - March)
arranging for carpool drivers for scrimmages at other schools and on day of the event
securing space outside of the Pyramid at Long Beach and coordinating team lunch, snack and refreshments on day of the event(March)

Team Practices and Events:

It is required that each team member attend scheduled practices every week. The ten members of the decathlon team will be enrolled in the decathlon elective class held during the second trimester (late November to early March) on Wednesday afternoons from 1:50-2:45. Morning practices will be held every Thursday morning from 7 - 7:40am. In addition, practices will be held on Fridays/weekends in January – March at team member homes. Team members are also expected to participate in any scheduled scrimmages. All team members are required to meet with their coach weekly but are ultimately responsible for the study of subject area material.