Friendswood High School sent 20 potential Decathletes to Rockwall recently to compete in their Invitational.
            FHS students performed well in the face of tough competition and taking seven consecutive tests.
             The FHS team won 36 top five awards and 5 first place top scores.  Corey Smith placed 3rd overall in the Honors division and Chase Stanford placed 3rd overall in the Scholastic division.  They also won the team SuperQuiz category and took 2nd place team overall. 
            Team members include Nicole Bui, Shalini Chatterjee, Bryan Holcomb, Andrew Medidna, Hayden Prentice, David Snowden, Davis Anderson, Ethan Hart, Jasmine Li, Austin Stump, Grady Burge, Rachel Hume, Noah Kessler, Mitchell Mize, Chase Stanford, Zack Thompson, Winston Wu, Corey Smith, Brandon Goddard, and Shahin Firousbahkt.
            “We are very proud of the work our students have done up to this point and are ready to work even harder as we move toward our State meet in February,” Sponsor Renae Simons said.
            Simons works with Leslie Berryhill and Arden Curtis in sponsoring the Academic Decathlon for FHS.
            FHS teams have been 4-A State Champions in 1988 and from 1993-2006. The team has been in the top three at State from 2007-2009.
            The United States Academic Decathlon is a team competition wherein students match their intellects with students from other schools. Students are tested in ten categories: Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science, Social Science, and Speech.  Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded for individual events and total scores. Winning teams advance through the local, regional, and state levels of competition. The state champions compete at the national finals.
              Based on the model of the athletic decathlon, the Academic Decathlon requires participants to prepare for ten academic events. Like the athletic contest, the Academic Decathlon does not permit participants to specialize but rather the Academic Decathlon encourages academic versatility by requiring students to prepare for all ten events. The Academic Decathlon stresses educational opportunity and academic excellence.
              The Academic Decathlon was first created by Dr. Robert Peterson, former Superintendent of Schools in Orange County, California. Firmly believing that everyone's learning potential can be maximized through competitive challenge, Dr. Peterson set in motion the contest that has since come to be recognized as the most prestigious high school academic team competition in the United States. The program spread rapidly throughout the states due to the success and excitement it engendered. USAD was founded in 1981.
              The Academic Decathlon is a ten-event scholastic competition for teams of high school students. Each high school enters a team of nine students: 3 "A" or Honor students, 3 "B" or Scholastic students, and 3 "C" or Varsity students.
            At FHS, the Academic Decathlon is an elective course that receives one credit.