Students from Westwood Regional High School made history last weekend, placing third place in the nation in their division of the United States Academic Decathlon.
“It was really exciting because we worked so hard,” coach James Thomas said in an interview this past week, after the nine-member team returned from the competition in Pittsburgh. “We knew we had the potential to be in the top four but we really wanted to be in the top three.”
The Westwood squad, formally known by its acronym, WACADECA, competed in the nationals April 25-27 in the medium-sized school category, facing state champion teams from Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Lathrop High School in Alaska took first place, while New Berlin West High School in Wisconsin was second.
The Academic Decathlon features interviews, essay writing, a “Super Quiz” in front of a live audience and exams in art, economics, literature, math, music, science and social science. A key moment in Pittsburgh came when the team took part in interviews before judges. Thomas said the team had a “big jump” in scores during this section.