The Academic Decathlon (AcDec) team will compete at its state meet in San Antonio on Feb. 27.
Each member of the team will compete in art, economics, language, literature, math, music, science, social science, essay, interview and speech. When a student places individually, their points are added to the team’s overall score. This year’s theme is “Our Changing Climate.”
“There’s no one out there who scores perfectly in all categories,” senior Amareya Clay said. “It’s all about studying as hard as you can and doing the best that you can. That’s all you can hope for.”
The team sits at sixth for large schools in the state and seventh overall. Last year, the team placed 11th at the competition and fifth the year prior. AcDec coach Donna Friend said the team is in a better position this year.
“They know the ropes now and some of them came away with good experiences,” Friend said. “Others are coming away wanting more than they got last year.”
Seven members of this year’s team are returners contrasting the previous year, when only one member had experience.
“Coming into the year, we were much more prepared,” junior Sejal Thakur said. “We knew what to expect in each competition. Even with new members this year, we know what to tell them, and [we] are prepared, as a team, for what’s coming.”
There have been multiple years where the team has had only one male, such as last year, but this is the first year the whole team is female. To honor this, the team made friendship bracelets with “Feminominon” written on it.
“As an all-girl team, showing up and putting our names on the board feels more important,” Clay said. “We dominate competitions, and it means more because we’re the unique team there.”
Marcus is sixth in the state — just above Hebron’s team. AcDec’s honors team is consistently placing higher than Marcus’, but the scholastic team is right below. Friend said the teams have a healthy competition, but that she tries to make sure they don’t focus too much on how they place over how they feel.
“I’ve had to learn and work hard at telling them it’s going to be OK,” Friend said. “I need them to believe me, and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes, all they can see is their chemistry quiz on Friday, but there’s more out there. The world is bigger and better. It’s going to be OK.”
