A day full of multiple choice tests may sound like something from some students’ nightmares. Yet those who are up to the challenge, such as Rose Stewart, can end up traveling the state and possibly even country, if they make it to Nationals in Iowa, collecting awards as they go.
These competitions are part of North Penn’s Academic Decathlon, an opportunity for students to compete in different academic fields and test their knowledge. While the tests themselves are taken individually, this is a team activity, with all the scores being combined.
There are seven tests in specific concentrations within the seven subjects of art, economics, literature, science, social science, math, music. This year, all of the subjects (excluding math) are connected by the common themes of environment and climate change.
Team members complete each of the seven multiple tests over the course of a day. They are all 50 questions, except for math, which is 35. There are three divisions based on unweighted GPA. Varsity has the lowest, then Scholastic, and then Honors with the highest GPA.
Most recently, students competed against teams from Hershey, Souderton, Pope John Paul, and Methacton for their first scrimmage of the year. One of academic decathlon’s members, Rose Stewart, started her senior season strong, returning home with six medals.
“On our first November 9th scrimmage, I won the golds in my category for art, literature, science, and social science; a silver for math, and the gold medal for overall score in the scholastic division,” Stewart stated.
“Over my years of competing I have won various silver and bronze medals in five of the subjects, including math, art, lit, science, and social science,” Stewart explained.
Stewart, who has been competing since sophomore year has had time to figure out what works best to prepare. She developed various studying strategies over the years, leading her to early success this year.
“We have a lot of resources on our canvas page, so I take notes on those. For literature, I read the book that is the primary focus of the competition; this year it’s Solar Storms by Linda Hogan,” Stewart explained.
Her favorite subject is Literature, which she finds to be the easiest, however, she considers music and economics to be the most difficult. Besides just diving deep into a wide range of material, Academic Decathlon gives a boost to students in school.
“I definitely learned how to take tests under pressure, and it definitely correlates with what I’m learning. Like last year, the science was neuroscience, and I was taking AP Psych, so that alignment really helped to reinforce what I already knew,” Stewart declared.
Overall, Stewart is an active and determined member of the North Penn community and the Academic Decathlon. She is always urging people to join the team, and hopefully next year’s team members will continue in her footsteps.
“I highly, highly recommend it. It’s definitely not an easy club, you have to put a lot of work in there, but the work is very much worth it,” Stewart concluded.