Liberté, égalité, fraternité!

Academic Decathlon is first in county, advancing to state

Eight individuals began their first Academic Decathlon practice last May completely unaware of their teammates’ strength and weaknesses, with only surface-level knowledge of the French Revolution
   “When we first join, we have no idea who (our teammates) are,” Lee said. “We’re all very different people. (Teammates can) be a little timid when approaching others because they’re so different, but later on in the season, things get better.”
   After 11 months of preparation, they won first place at the county tournament and will leave for state competition today as a united team of decathletes, ready to present their comprehensive knowledge of 18th century France.
   The Granite Bay High School team is made up of eight academic athletes: three “A” students in the honors category, three “B” students in the scholastic category and two “C” students in the varsity category.
   Students from each level are also involved in Future Business Leaders of America, clubs, music organizations, the Granite Bay Gazette and Boy Scouts. All of these unique individuals come together to build off each others’ individual study habits.
   Several of the students joined the team looking to expand their educational horizons, just as GBHS junior Chelsey Lee did as a sophomore.
  “Sometimes in school, classroom knowledge can only go (so) far because you don’t get to learn about the deeper facts,” Lee said. “What you learn is just the surface”.
   And these students certainly receive an in-depth education.
   They take 30-minute multiple-choice tests in seven subjects: economics, art, music, language and literature, mathematics, science and social science. Each team member is also required to write an essay, deliver a speech and participate in the Super Quiz.
   These events are all loosely based around the theme for each season, and the theme for the 2009-2010 season is the French Revolution.
   The theme, which changes every year, is determined by the United States Academic Decathlon organization, and students must follow the curriculum developed by the USAD.
   Students must learn to balance seven different subjects to study  that  are  encompassed  in the curriculum,  along with learning public-speaking and essay-writing skills.
   GBHS English teacher Anthony Davis provides support in this process, as he has more than 12 years of experience as an Academic Decathlon coach, along with his memories of competing as a decathlete in high school.
   “I coach them in the speech and the interview, as well as the language, literature and economics,” Davis said. “Once they leave high school, (the decathletes) have the ability to maintain (their) sanity while studying seven different academic events (because of AcaDec).”
   Other GBHS teachers come to practices to help out with other subjects: Sharry Colnar helps with chemistry, Brandon Dell’ Orto with the social science, Duane Blomquist with math and Brad Cordell with art.
   Decathletes like GBHS senior Paul Basra learn valuable study skills through the process of studying an intense curriculum with their teammates.
   “It’s more of a group effort,” Basra said. “Everyone shares their ways (of) memoriz(ation) and then Mr. Davis teaches us how to critically analyze. Everyone motivates each other.”
   Kurt Chirbas, GBHS senior and team captain, advises his team to create acronyms and relate the reading and facts in the books to their own lives.
   “The best thing is to learn how to make mnemonic devices,” Chirbas said. “Silly things – if you can relate a number to a basketball jersey or a clever saying – it will stick in your mind longer than (a list of facts from a textbook)”.
   Along with coaching the studious efforts of the team, Davis and Chirbas support coherent teamwork.
   “We always start off the year (with) bowling and we’ve gone out to restaurants on Fridays” Chirbas said.
   GBHS junior Jennifer Bonne sees the importance of working well as a team from the start, because they must work together year-long before their competition.
   “You’re all working hard together, you’re all going through the same (process), so you really have to bond and get to know each other,” Bonne said.
   The social aspect and “fraternité,” or brotherhood, of the team is a major part of the successful decathletes, according to GBHS junior Jerrica Bullis.
   “The (people) are all so different and so much fun to be around,” Bullis said, as her teammates joke around beside her, indulging in Oreos before practice.
   “I used to be really shy when I first started out with (AcaDec),” Bullis said, “but (it) has (showed) me that it’s OK to open up a little bit more.”
   Decathletes learn valuable teamwork and social skills from the team – these social skills combined with the educational experience they’ve had will continue to help them in college and beyond.
   “­The academics won’t really help you do better on your SAT or ACT, but the skills you learn from it – responsibility, how to collaborate with other people, and how to make the best of any situation (procrastination for instance) – really helps you develop skills to become a better person,” Lee said.