Agoura High School enters academic decathlon late, makes school proud

Agoura High School participated in the battle of the brains at the 2006 Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon in mid-February, and at last week's Las Virgenes Unified School District board of education meeting, Nan Cano, an English teacher at Agoura High and this year's academic decathlon advisor, announced the 2006 team awards.

Overall, the school ranked 32nd out of 56 L.A. County high schools.

Cano said the school decided late in the game to enter a team into this year's academic decathlon.

"We jumped in mid-semester," Cano said. Ordinarily, academic decathlon teams begin preparing for the competition during the summer.

Cano called the students "very brave" for starting so late and ultimately doing so well in the competition.

There are three levels of team participation, divided by grade point averages-Honors (A students), Scholastic (B students) and Varsity (C students). In addition to team awards, individual students compete in different categories.

Academic decathletes take 30minute multiple choice tests in economics, art, music, language and literature, mathematics, science and social science.

Each team member also presents a four-minute planned speech and a two-minute impromptu speech, has a sevenminute interview, and writes an essay in 50 minutes.

The only event open to the public is the Super Quiz Oral Relay, which this year focused on the European Renaissance.

For the honors level, Diana Wu claimed a medal for the highest overall score, as well as a team award for the most inspirational member. Cano said Wu ranked in the top 25 in the competition in language arts, science, math and essay.

Kim Cooper earned a medal in the interview category and was ranked in the top 25 for language, science, art and economics.

Breanna Sinner was recognized as a top 25 winner in language, science and the essay competition. Scholastic team members Julia Casillas Loren Boykoff and Ali Burdick also claimed high rankings. Casillas and Boykoff ranked in the top 25 for language, science, math and essay. Casillas also won the high ranking for the interview section, while Boykoff was honored for her ranking in economics.

Burdick made the top 25 list in all the above categories, plus music.

Varsity team members Danielle Skornik and Rodney Yean ranked in the top 25 for language, science, art and math. Skornik also ranked in economics and essay, while Yean was recognized in the interview category.

The California Academic Decathlon is a statewide nonprofit organization that promotes an educational experience where teams compete in academic events. All California public and private high schools are eligible to compete.

More than 500 high schools in 42 counties and districts participated in the California Academic Decathlon. The makeup of each of the nine-member teams must include three A students, three B students, and three C or below students.

The academic decathlon season involves four rounds of competition. The curriculum is published in May and the first, non-scoring scrimmage is held in November.

The second round of competition was conducted on Feb. 4 and winners of round three move into the state finals, scheduled for mid-March. The state champion will represent California in the fourth round at the national level, scheduled for late April.