The Academic Decathlon team competed in their last competition of the year Jan. 11 and placed third overall. That competition decided whether or not they went to state.

“We did not qualify for the state competition,” adviser Nick Kvam said. 

Even though they did not go onto the state competition, they still did well at their regional competition.

“I personally placed third in music, but my peers placed pretty well, even getting first in mathematics,” junior Aidan Pierstorff said. 

Academic Decathlon is a club where students take seven written tests in English, math, science, music, economics, art, and literature. They also write essays on books they read for the competition. The current team is very small with only five people, but if more people joined they would be able to do speeches and interviews as well. 

“I hope that AcaDeca gets more members to join the team soon because we only barely have enough to compete as it is,” freshman Brett Bernard said. 

AcaDeca has many qualities that are special, but some of them specifically stick out to the team members. 

“My favorite thing about AcaDeca is the fact that we are all like a team, trying to work together to advance,” Bernard said.

AcaDeca members help each other with their work and strengthen each other’s speeches. More people on the team helps with this and motivates them as well. 

“I hope that more people will join because it’s a pretty small group right now, and more people makes the group a lot more fun and engaging. It also encourages people to try harder on their speeches and essays when you have a bunch of friends/peers to compare with,” Pierstorff said.