The Academic Decathlon team is off and running this semester after their large school division win. They competed and excelled in ten different events that they studied for all semester. They headed to the state competition in February to represent Coronado and its phenomenal academics. Although the competitors make it look easy, these events take lots of tireless preparation and hard work. Senior Christina Li has been a prominent leader for the AcaDec team this year.

 “I think AcaDec is really special because ultimately, it’s a team competition. I get to work together with other dedicated students to learn the content and help grow in speech and interview. My favorite part of AcaDec is being able to test my knowledge on everything I’ve learned and see that my hard work has paid off,” Li said. 

Li has been a scholastic standout and has enjoyed being a part of the decathlon team for three years. Her personal favorite events to compete in include literature, music, and art. She has contributed lots of hard work to hopefully go farther into the AcaDec competitions coming up. 

“I’ve really enjoyed learning about a variety of subjects that I otherwise would have never discovered in school. Every person competes in 10 events: speech, interview, essay, art, economics, literature, mathematics, music, science, and social science,” Li said. “AcaDec provides really interesting selections that we study, and I have discovered a lot of great art of various kinds through AcaDec.”

Academic Decathlon is much more than a fundamental intellectual competition. The events consist of arguing ideas, writing essays, and speaking on topics you may or may not have seen before. It takes lots of diligence and determination from each member. Ms. Camacho has been an integral part of the AcaDec team and has led them to success so far this year.

“It’s an amazing feeling watching them celebrate after seeing them work so hard throughout the semester,” Camacho said. “We head to Frisco, Texas from February 25^th to the 27^th, so we are going to review all the ten topics and make sure they feel confident. I hope they are able to enjoy themselves and make some good memories.” 

As of last weekend, Enrique Pineda won a gold in economics and a silver in essay. Christina Li won a bronze in economics. Coronado students remain unmatched in their academic, athletic, and extracurricular pursuits.