TOWAMENCIN – With visions of the palm trees and sunshine of Honolulu’s National Competition dancing in the backs of their minds, the eight members of North Penn’s Academic Decathlon harnessed the hundreds of pages of information diligently memorized over the course of the year in the hopes of winning the Pennsylvania State Competition. A table of leis on the stage to signify qualification for Nationals awaited the winners, perhaps providing the motivation necessary to rocket North Penn’s team into first place with 42,425 points, about 2,000 points ahead of top contenders Collegiate Academy and McDowell, in addition to eleven other competitors. The team ultimately returned home with a total of 35 medals, including four students awarded for highest individual scores.
This spectacular victory is North Penn’s second state win in a row, and with the National Competition located on the beautiful island of Hawaii this year, it was no less cause for celebration. Advisor Nancy Craig pointed out that what made the victory especially sweet was the hard work put in by the team to achieve it.
“It definitely was a challenge, but as soon as I met the team and the students that would eventually become the team, I knew that this would be a good year,” said Craig. “It felt wonderful [to win States], but of course I was just the power behind the work that all the students did. The team was motivated; they started their meetings with a picture of the Waikiki Hilton on the screen, and they worked very hard to get there. It was fabulous.”
The range of information necessary to compete certainly was no easy task to memorize. Team members have to tackle a sizeable packet of information for each of the varied subjects, which include everything from economics to art to social science, which was World War I themed in honor of this year’s hundred-year anniversary of its outset. In addition, competitors must master the speech, interview, and essay categories, calling writing and public speaking skills into play.
Juggling such an intense workload on top of regular schoolwork would be daunting to any student, but the members of Academic Decathlon take it in stride, viewing the variety of topics as an opportunity to learn. Senior Maisha Islam commented that the material, though challenging, can also be enriching.
“I like Acadec because I learn about such a wide variety of subjects that I would otherwise not learn about, like art, music, and economics,” said Islam. “I also think that my public speaking skills have improved from practicing speech and interview. So not only the information but also the skills I learn will help me, even outside of the competition.”
In addition to the wide spectrum of material, the team encompasses a variety of team members as well. As Craig explains, the team is not reserved for those with a straight-A report card.
“What’s really good about Academic Decathlon is that we have three categories of students with A averages, B averages, and C averages – we call them Honors, Scholastic, and Varsity – so that when we’re looking for team members, they don’t always have to be high-A students. We’re looking for students who are willing to learn all types of things, so there’s talent at each different level. That’s what makes it so exciting – working together as a team.”
Teamwork is without a doubt a key component in the team’s success. In the words of junior Damian Dhanaraj, “Our strengths and weaknesses balance out.” The team is largely student-run, with teammates teaching and tutoring each other on the material so that those who struggle in a particular subject can turn to a teammate who has a better handle on the material for help.
“I will say that teamwork pays off,” said junior Noah Lamb. “My math scores without Jerry [Zhao, junior] tutoring me were maybe 200 to 300 out of 1000. With his help, I got 500…a big improvement. So teamwork helps.”
The Decathlon competitors are planning on kicking this teamwork into full force on their way to Nationals, preparing for a sun-kissed day of success in Honolulu. “We’re going to concentrate on keeping our scores where they are right now,” said Craig. “A couple of the areas that we’re going to really hit, I’d like bring home some medals in those areas.”
In the home stretch of the competition and already reveling in the success brought about at States and prior competitions, the Academic Decathlon team is approaching a fitting finale to an incredibly successful season. When April 24th rolls around, the team will face off against dozens of high-scoring teams from all over the country, doing what they do best under the radiant rays of the Hawaii sun.