A group of nine high school students, ages 15 to 18 walk back down the halls of Redondo Union High School well after the final bell has rung. They enter room 201, sit down and crack open a five pound study guide, full of highlighter marks, notes and surrounded by a tired folio. Amanda Caceres, a junior in her first year of Academic Decathlon (Aca Dec) has gone through at least 15 highlighters while studying for this season’s competitions.
The students will be competing this upcoming weekend, leaving early Thursday morning, in Sacramento for the state Aca Dec championship.
“We’ve probably spent more time in this classroom than all other ones combined,”Caceressaid.
For this group, taking two days off school doesn’t mean taking a break from studying. In fact, the team has spent every night from 6-9 p.m. in recent days getting ready for the grueling tests, interviews, essays and speeches that are involved in the competition.
“They love learning for learning’s sake,” said the coach and RUHS teacher Aimiee Gauvreau. “They are all self-motivated, they teach themselves a wide array of subjects.”
The group is not necessarily compiled of academic superstars. In fact, some of the students are not dedicated to school, but just love to compete. To be successful, a well-rounded team has strengths in all academic disciplines and has students from all grade ranges.
“We just have a genuine passion for learning,” said Alex Niebergall, a senior in her second year of Aca Dec. “It has to be you who wants to succeed; there’s only so much others can do to help.”
Earlier in the year they set their goal to get to the state competition. Now that they will be making the eight hour trek north, they are just excited to see the other teams and reach another milestone.
“The most important goal is to set the bar for next year’s team to continue building on our success,” said senior Aamil Shaik. “It’s within our reach, but it will be very tough and nerve-wracking.”
Of course, they are also hoping for a single digit win.
Competition results will be announced on Sunday at academicdecathlon.org
