DBHS’s many bright minded students are sure to excel in the prominent competition if they choose to dedicate their time to it.
As one of the largest and most popular academic competitions in the United States, the Academic Decathlon has never failed to generate excitement among the participating students and their respective schools.
The teams, comprised of nine members, have three students in each division based on grade point average: Honors (3.75-4.00), Scholastic (3.00-3.74), and Varsity (below 3.0). There are ten events, and team scores are the cumulative of all the team member’s points.
The Decathlon is a perfect way to showcase a school’s strength in certain academic areas and to boost its reputation. In fact, each year, the winning team of Los Angeles County Academic is featured in the Los Angeles Times and is given prominent play on local TV. This year, Granada Hills Charter High School’s decathlon team won once again at the state competition, enabling them to further its two-year consecutive win of the national Academic Decathlon that will be held in Minneapolis this April. All public and private high schools are eligible to compete, but Diamond Bar High School has not invested much of its time in such a pursuit.
Ranked as the 19th best high school in California and 135th in the country by Newsweek, DBHS has a soaring chance of excelling in the event. We have competed before and done well in the past, providing the other participating schools with a fair bit of competition. Unfortunately, however, our school’s Academic Decathlon team has not been active in recent years due to various reasons. This has excluded many remarkable students on our campus from the opportunity to maximize their potential as well as to gain an extraordinary experience to compete with other bright individuals.
The preparation for the Decathlon may be an extensive and tiring process because of the vast range of subjects it offers and the need to thoroughly know the material, but the rewards that the winning teams will reap are ones that are well worth the effort. Students have the chance to gain national recognition while the school betters its reputation. Even if the teams are not eligible to continue on to the state or national championships, the experience that the students will acquire will no doubt be invaluable to their future.
All in all, the Academic Decathlon is a competition that DBHS students have a great chance of succeeding in. Our school is filled with exceptional students with brilliant minds who just need that opportunity to challenge their intellect. Teachers and friends should recommend talented students around them to join together and recreate the Academic Decathlon team. It will certainly broaden perspectives and open new doors of possibilities for students, even if they don’t necessarily make it to the championship. DBHS is already known for its impressive athletic and performing arts programs; it is now time that our academic talent is showcased as well.