SSA Competed in the Arizona Academic Decathlon
Sonoran Science Academy competed in the Arizona Academic Decathlon state competition on March 6 – 7 in Phoenix at the Sandra Day O’Connor high school. The SSA Decathlon team, comprised of Brett Rowley, Liz Nguyen, Cody Cushing, Christina Bischoff, Erika Tinley, Natalie Funk, Grey Reeder, Siena Moreno, and Katharine McMurray along with coach Martin Sade, qualified to compete at the state level by their third place finish in the regional competition last month.
The Decathlon is a series of ten events organized around a theme that changes each year. The theme for this competition was Latin America with a special focus on Mexico, and the science theme was Evolutionary Biology. Students are tested on their knowledge of art, music, economics, history, literature, and the science topic; in addition they are required to write an essay on an assigned topic, give a prepared and an impromptu speech, and undergo a formal interview.
Overall, out of 40 teams from around Arizona competing this weekend, Sonoran Science Academy achieved an impressive 8th place finish. The team received trophies for being the highest scoring team of all schools new to the state level competition as well as the trophy for being the highest scoring 1A school. In addition, Brett Rowley received an individual medal for his performance in the mathematics category.
Students are already hard at work preparing for next year’s competition where the themes will be the French Revolution with a science topic of Chemistry.
Students participating in the Decathlon compete in ten events organized around a central theme and a science topic. This year’s theme was Latin America and the science was evolutionary biology. Next year the students will studying the theme of the French Revolution and the science will be chemistry. Students are tested on their knowledge of art, history, literature, music, mathematics, economics and science; in addition they must do a present a prepared speech, an impromptu speech, write an essay, and undergo a formal interview. The Decathlon is unique among academic contests in that each team of nine students is required to have three students with grade point averages of 3.74 and above; three students must have grade points of 3.00 to 3.74; and three students must have grade points below 3.00. It is a challenging and fun activity and is offered as an elective class at SSA. If a student is interested in joining next year’s team, they should contact Mr. Sade for more information.