Academic Decathlon participates in Solano County competition
By Kate Harris,
HUB Staff Writer–
Hidden away under the steps that lead to the second floor of the library building is the home base for the Academic Decathlon club at Davis High.
Last Friday, the team met to discuss some last minute things before they went to compete in the Solano County competition, which took place on Jan. 12.
Although the scores have not yet come back, Anthony Vasquez, the club’s adviser and an English teacher at Davis High, has high hopes for their scores.
“I think it went very well. Everyone is dressed up because the speeches and interviews are formal and it gives the students a level of seriousness,” Vasquez said.
This is Vasquez’s first year as the adviser to this club. He was asked to help out with the club because he knew a lot of the students involved in the club from teaching them last year.
Academic Decathlon is a national competition that includes schools from all over the country, according to the United States Academic Decathlon’s website. There are 10 categories that students compete in: arts, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, mathematics, music, science, social science and speech.
Senior Jose Arzaluz is a veteran to this club, this year being his second year competing. After his first year competing he realized how much he liked the speech and interview categories, so he came back for another year.
“My favorite area to compete in is interview because it’s not something you have to think about a lot, and for me it’s interesting to be challenged that way. It’s good practice for job interviews,” Arzaluz said.
Junior Kevin Anderson wasn’t able to go to the competition this past weekend, but really enjoys the club. Anderson is new to the club this year. A friend introduced him to the world of Academic Decathlon earlier this year, and decided to join after attending a club meeting.
One of the ultimate goals of the club, in Anderson’s opinion, is to “feel accomplished in your own. Feeling like you learned the material how you wanted to.”
In order to prepare for their last competition, the Speech and Debate club helped them stage a mock speech set, where they practiced and got judged and critique from the debate team.
The club meets semi-regularly on Fridays, and will be facing off opponents again on Feb. 2, at a Super Quiz. The venue will be different than the formal set up of the most recent competition though, this one in an auditorium and under louder conditions.