Summerville High Wins Local Academic Decathlon
Sonora, CA — Three regional high schools competed in the 45th annual Mother Lode Regional Academic Decathlon that was coordinated by the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools Office and held at Columbia College.
The goal is to foster greater respect for knowledge and promote wholesome inter-school academic competition. Teams took part in competitions related to arts, economics, math, science, social studies, and public speaking.
The event encourages students of all academic abilities to take part and places them in one of three divisions (Honors, Scholastic, or Varsity) based on their grade point average.
Each team member competes in all ten events against other students in their divisions. However, team scores are calculated using the top two individual scores from each division to arrive at an overall team score.
Gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded for individual events and total scores. Overall individual winners were recognized, as were the champion teams. Over 35 community volunteers helped to put on the event.
Students took part from Summerville High School, Tioga High School, and Bret Harte High School.
The overall winners in each event are below:
Art: Joshua Kepner, Summerville
Economics: Joshua Kepner, Summerville
Essay: Joshua Kepner, Summerville
Interview: Lukas Soto, Summerville
Language and Literature: Joshua Kepner, Summerville
Math: Jayden Stone Frerking, Bret Harte
Music: Joshua Kepner, Summerville
Science: Joshua Kepner & Lukas Soto, Summerville
Social Science: Joshua Kepner, Summerville
Speech: Owen Gayle, Bret Harte
For the 45th Annual Mother Lode Regional Decathlon, the overall winning team was Summerville High School with a combined score of 30,542.73 points. Bret Harte High School finished second in the overall standings, with a combined score of 26,012.01 points. Those two regional champions will now compete in the state competition, March 21 through March 24, 2024, in Santa Clara. The state champions are then eligible to compete at the national finals that will take place April 25-26, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Teams are coached by: Jennifer Truman at Bret Harte High School, Ken Ruckman at Summerville High School and Emily Hanchett at Tioga High School.
