When the Academic Decathlon team enters the College Center at Manual Arts Senior High School, 826LA’s satellite site, it’s as if a group of local heroes has arrived.
“Hey, it’s the Aca Deca guys!” one student shouts out. The decathletes grin.
After 10 months of exhaustive study on this year’s theme of new alternatives in energy, countless hours rehearsing speeches and interviews, and intensive preparation for exams, the team can soak in moments like these because the Los Angeles Unified School District competition is behind them. And they were victorious.
Manual Arts High — with team members Ricardo A., Jorge C., Christopher C., Corey C., Favio L., Sergio P., Brandon S., Brian V., and Paola G. — last month was awarded the Most Improved Team in Conference 1 and the LAUSD. The team was ranked 36th out of 60 teams–a major improvement from last year’s 58th place.
“It’s not every day that you win Most Improved in all of LAUSD. That was all their dedication this year,” said Brandon Abraham, the Aca Deca coach and Manual Arts English teacher who started the team two years ago. “They say it takes five years to have a really strong team. We’ve made a lot of progress. We see the difference when we have the [Aca Deca] class, the stability it brings.”
Jorge and Sergio also earned gold medals in the interview portion of the competition, Christopher earned a bronze medal in the interview, and Corey received a special recognition medal in mathematics.
The students’ awards are a testament to their commitment to Academic Decathlon, a challenging competition that tests in science, literature, art, music, social science, economics, and mathematics.
“The thing with this competition is there is no winging it,” Jorge said. “You either know the material or you don’t.”
Favio’s proudest moment came from the Super Quiz portion of the Decathlon, during which the teammates took turns solving difficult multiple-choice questions in front of a live audience.
“When we all got it [right], it felt good to know that we all had it,” the sophomore said. “I kind of shed a tear when I was up there, ’cause I was thinking, ‘I hope they didn’t see me fail.’ It was so intense. It felt like we were going to war or something.”
Returning decathletes Christopher, Sergio, and Ricardo were a big help to their newer teammates, who were eager to absorb as much as they could from the veterans.
Because the students spent so much time together, they created strong bonds (and plenty of inside jokes). In the process, they found ways to make learning the sometimes dense material interesting.
They also learned a fun, close-to-home fact while studying a series of 14 paintings, such as Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist). Its painter, Jackson Pollock–known for his use of the drip paint method–attended Manual Arts High.
“We grew together with experience,” said sophomore Brandon. “This isn’t something you just do after school every day. This is basically your whole life.”
The decathletes said that much of their success should be attributed to the people who helped them along the way, including Manual Arts English coach Thomas Roddy, HIPP (High Intellectual Preparedness Program) workshop organizers William Cathers and Susan Allen, and 826LA.
“Just having 826LA bring people like English majors to help us structure our speech, judge our speeches, ask us [to do] a random impromptu [speech], and give us feedback and good criticism,” said senior Sergio. “They gave us interview skills like how to give a firm handshake. I think 826LA is the No. 1 reason Jorge and myself were able to get medals.”
Added junior Ricardo, “My interview was close to perfect. In that moment I knew that all our team work, the little things we put into preparing our interviews, finally paid off.”
While the other teammates are preparing to study India for next year’s Academic Decathlon, Christopher and Sergio are heading for graduation.
Sergio, who will be attending Hobart College in New York as a computer science major in the fall, said he’s going to miss “being a part of a team where they don’t judge you if you’re weak in some areas. Instead, they will help you succeed. I love Decathlon.”