LAKEPORT, Calif. – Teams of bright, hard-working students will square off this weekend in the annual Lake and Mendocino County Academic Decathlon.
The competition will culminate in the Super Quiz and awards, which are free and open to the public, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb.4, at Clear Lake High School, 350 Lange St. in Lakeport.
Tammy Serpa, education specialist with the Career and College Readiness Department of the Lake County Office of Education, is the event's lead organizer.
Serpa said this year 73 students from five schools will compete. High schools sending teams are Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Middletown and defending 2016 champion Upper Lake, with a team from Willits also taking part. Middletown and Willits returned this year after not participating in the 2016 competition.
This year's topic is World War II.
Academic decathletes will compete in 10 disciplines: arts, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, mathematics, music, science, social science and speech. In addition, the teams are scored on their Super Quiz performance.
The local competition also includes poetry and poster production competitions judged by the Lake County Arts Council but not scored in the overall competition.
The full competition actually takes place over the course of several weeks. On Jan. 6, the students took their first exam, an essay, Serpa said. Then, this past Saturday, they completed their speech and interview portions.
“We had 40 volunteers from the community help judge the speeches and interviews,” Serpa said.
Students will compete in the remaining disciplines on Saturday morning, she said. They will then have a break before the afternoon Super Quiz, which will be followed by the awards ceremony.
The team that wins the regional competition on Saturday will advance to the state competition, to be held in Sacramento March 23 through 26, according to the California Academic Decathlon Competition Web site.
The team rosters are shown below.
Clear Lake High School
Superintendent Erin Smith-Hagberg; Principal David Chamberlain; Coach Kristi Tripp
Team: Brenden Allen, Kaitlyn Avila, Miah Bullard, Alexis Burke, Michael Camacho, Candace Clayton, Zoe Cramer, Anna DelBosco, Dustin Domagalski, Dominik Helms, Brent Hinchcliff, Kyle Jensen, Subhagya Joshi, Christopher Lasher, Carina Martinez Lopez, Clinton Mather, Isabella Mattina, Courtney McIntosh, Nicolette Norcio, Anahy Olmedo, Sarah Pope, Nicolette Rivera, Felix Salinas, Andrew Scott, Connor Simons
Kelseyville High School
Superintendent Dave McQueen; Principal Matt Cockerton; Coaches Erick Larsen and Heather Koschik
Team: Andrew Aceves, Samantha Darnell, Kelsie Engle, Cassidy Holmes, Christina Jimenez, Kyle Keener, Artem Laptiev, Sienna Longoria, Anna Pak, Megan Petersen, Tiara Richards, Merin Rixen, Savannah Rodriguez, Kaitlyn Salata, Hannah Smith, Nichole Stevens
Middletown High School
Superintendent Catherine Stone; Principal Bill Roderick, Coach Jeff Mielke
Team: Robert Carey, Tyler Chorjel, Ella Dunsford, Donald Elder, Diana Espinoza, Carissa Forest, Olivia Glosser, Rachel Harvey, Ashley Hediger, Justin Hingston, Beckett Hoage, Moyra Horrell-Pyzer, Alixe Olson, Gary Pickrell, Jack Shrive, Colton Soderling, James Stalker
Upper Lake High School
Superintendent Pat Iaccino; Principal Sandy Coatney, Coaches Anna Sabalone and Angel Hayenga
Team: Cyndal Ader, Daniela Estrada Flores, Jeff Fannon, Megan Franco, Casey Herman, Miranda Huntley, Anisha Kalan, Kehlani McKelvey, Katlyn Minnis, Cristal Nieves, Rue Owen, Elizabeth Rosas Moreno, Breanna Sanchez, Maria Tinoco, Sarah Williams, Jack Wurm
Willits High School
Superintendent Mark Westerburg; Principal Robert Chavez; Coach Mary Colvig
Team: Katelyn Abernathy, Jace Atalig, Aiden Bertolino Haley, Oliver Campuzano, Hanna Corey, Eduardo Escobedo, Ryann Hee, Mychaela Nowlin, Tachyna Renick, Cheyanne Turner, Alisabeth Wilcox, Miranda Wilson
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Lake County Academic Decathlon takes place Feb. 4
- Elizabeth Larson
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