Academic Decathlon team does well in Regional competition; qualifies for state Saturday, February 18, 2012 By Chris Rodriguez & Adrian Villalpando From left: Lorenzo Badiola, Luis Hernandez, Carissa Ziegler - Joseph Sinnock Advertising Questions for students Q: What is Academic Decathlon? A: Lorenzo Badiola (LB)- “Basically it’s just competition where you compete. There’s 10 subjects. Some are essay, interview, speech, economics, music, social science, science, and language and literature.          Luis Hernandez (LH)- “It’s a competition where you study 10 subjects and compete against different teams.”      Carissa Zieglar (CZ)- “It’s a class where you compete in 10 different subjects and you have a time period over the course of the year.” Q: When do you meet? A: LB- “0 hour, which is before school, except for Wednesday.”     LH- “Four days out of the school week except for Wednesday.”     CZ- “Every morning we meet at 7:30 until 8:30 and we meet on weekends sometimes for 3 to 4 hours for the extra practice.” Q: What have you been studying for? A: LB- “How to write, cover art, and all other subjects. We have a book assigned to us too. It’s called Age of Imperialism.”     LH- “We’ve been studying for the state competition in March.”     CZ- “We’ve been studying for the state competition on March 9 and 10.” Q: What has been your major goal in the club? A: LB- “We’re in it to win it. We want to show that this school is the best at academics and there is more to school than just sports.”     LH- “To medal or place in at least four or five events.”     CZ- “To gain an award in the competition and further my knowledge on Imperialism.” Q: What is the competition you went to? A: LB- “The regionals on February 3-4 in Yuma.     LH- “Regionals competition in Yuma.”     CZ- Regionals in Yuma and State in Mesa.” Q: How did you do individually to help bring the team to a win? A: LB- “For economics I got 3rd place with a score of 720 and for art I got somewhere in the 700s. I feel like I could have done a little bit better.”          LH- “I got 1st overall in history and economics. Those are my strong points.”     CZ- “We each studied a main subject and taught it and I crammed every night.” Q: What was your reaction upon hearing you were going to state? A: LB- “I was excited and a little nervous because it was my first time going to state.     LH- “I was really happy because I worked a lot harder this year to get this far.”     CZ- “I was so excited but nervous because we would be going up against the best.” Q: What are you now doing to prepare? A: LB- “I’m covering topics that I’m good at so that I can beat others in those categories. I’ll study more in my weaker subjects too like science and math.”     LH- “I’m going to go over subjects I went over so that I can do better.”     CZ- “I’ll probably have to study late at night until about 11:30.” Q: How many people are going to compete? A: LB- “There are 9 people in total. Three people in varsity, three in scholastics, and three in honors.”     LH- “Nine, every school has nine.”     CZ- “Nine, that is a regulation team.” Questions for coach, Ms. Wildermuth Q: What is your role in Academic Decathlon? A: “I’m the coach this year.” Q: How did you get involved in the club? A: “I filled in when another teacher got promoted in this school.” Q: How do you feel about your team qualifying for state? A: “I’m really proud of them. It’s a huge accomplishment being able to qualify for state from regionals. It’s the first time we have made it.”

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