Hughson High School took second place as a team in the 40th annual Stanislaus County Academic Decathlon on Feb. 1, coming in behind Oakdale High and ahead of Enochs High.
Hailed as the biggest academic event for local high schools, the decathlon is a two-day series of tests, speeches and interviews featuring this year’s theme, “In Sickness and In Health: An Exploration of Illness and Wellness.”
Co-Sponsored by the Stanislaus County Office of Education, Gallo Foundation and Mocse Credit Union, the decathlon promotes interschool competition in academics and is supported through contributions made by businesses and the community. According to SCOE Student Events Coordinator Cheryl Goulart, the goal of the decathlon is to stimulate intellectual growth and scholastic success. “The competition is open to all students, not just the top-achievers,” she said. “Our objective is to recognize student achievement and to emphasize the positive dimensions of education.”
Participating schools send a total of nine members to serve as the core team – three students in each of three categories, based on grade point averages. Categories include Honors, 3.75-4.00 GPA; Scholastic, 3.00-3.74 GPA; and Varsity, 0.00-2.99 GPA. Thirteen local high schools participated in this year’s event including: Beyer, Central Catholic, Central Valley, Ceres, Davis, Enochs, Gregori, Hughson, Johansen, Modesto, Oakdale, Patterson and Valley Charter.
Along with taking second in the overall team scores, Hughson High also won the Super Quiz and boasts the first place Varsity champion in Sadie Padilla (Varsity Gold in Essay, Varsity Silver in Speech, Varsity Gold in Economics, Varsity Bronze in Social Science, Varsity Gold in Art and Varsity Gold in Science). Other Hughson Gold winners include Damian Barrios (Varsity Gold in Speech), Jamie Padilla (Scholastic Gold in Economics, Scholastic Gold in Social Science, Scholastic Gold in Science) and Lupita Negrete (Honors Gold in Social Science).
This year’s winner will represent Stanislaus County at the California Academic Decathlon State Finals, March 27-28 in Sacramento.
Other winners were:
Awad Shaif of Ceres High Varsity Silver in Science; Varsity 4th place for Social Science; Varsity 5th place for Mathematics
Jacob Chapman of Central Valley High, Varsity 5th place for Music; Varsity Silver for Economics; Varsity 5th place for Speech; and Varsity 5th place for Essay.
Daniel Baker of Ceres High, Alternate Bronze for Art;
Andrew Downs of Ceres High, Alternate Bronze for Language & Literature; Alternate 5th place for Social Science; and Alternate 4th place for Essay.
Emily Pena (Ceres High), Scholastic 5th place for Language & Literature;
Vinh Nguyen (Central Valley High), Honors 5th place for Language & Literature; and Honors 5th place for Mathematics.
Armando Sanchez (Central Valley High), Varsity Silver for Economics.
Davian Barba (Central Valley High), Scholastic Silver for Interview.
