NP wins again!
North Penn claims PA Academic Decathlon title for second year in a row
FRANCONIA — For the second year in a row, North Penn High School’s Academic Decathlon team won the state championship, which was held Friday and Saturday at Souderton Area High School. Fourteen schools from across the state gathered at Souderton to face off in a competition that included an essay, an interview, speeches, a written test and more. Souderton took fifth place in the decathlon.
Each year, the Academic Decathlon chooses a theme; this year’s theme was World War I, said Phil Cerami, coach for the Souderton Academic Decathlon team. Students prepared by reading about art, economics, language and literature, music, science and social science from the World War I era. The decathlon also tests students on four general skills: math, es- say, speech and interview.
The decathlon wrapped up with the Super Quiz Oral Relay, an exhibition event that didn’t factor into the overall decathlon scoring. Students from each team took turns answering multiple-choice questions based on the reading they had done. North Penn won the Super Quiz, followed by a tie between Souderton Area and the Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Acad-
emy.
The decathlon season technically starts in May, when schools are given their materials for the next year’s competition, Cerami said. Some of the more ambitious students study the material over the summer, while others wait for August or September to study as a team. During the fall, the teams compete in nonelimination scrimmages, he said, which “helps the kids get their feet wet.”
Since the start of the school year, Souderton Area’s team has practiced four days a week for two hours at a time, said senior Grant Welby. Although each team member has to be well-versed in all of the material, Welby felt particularly confident about the art questions. He didn’t know much about art before joining the decathlon team last year, but now he’s “really interested in it,” he said.
Cerami felt the same way when he was a student on the North Penn decathlon team. “I was a math geek,” he said. “(The decathlon) gave me an appreciation for other subjects. This program made me a more complete person.” He’s kept that enthusiasm for the decathlon since graduating; he started the Renaissance Academy Charter School team when he worked there and then started the Souderton team two years ago.
Each state holds its competition during the first or second weekend of March, Cerami said; the winners from each state go on to compete in the Academic Decathlon Finals, which takes place in April in Honolulu, Hawaii.
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