Academic Decathlon went to state on March 6 and 7 at the Tundra Lodge in Green Bay WI, placing 18th overall in the competition and third in their division. They got to state by placing high at their regional competition, Berlin was one of the top three teams from their division, allowing them to qualify.
“Academic Decathlon is a team-based academic competition for high school students. It emphasizes academic excellence across a wide range of subjects,” coach Nick Kvam said.
Kvam has been the coach of Acadeca for eight years. He came into this position when the old coach retired and they required a new one, so Kvam stepped up. This year, the club consists of 12 people from different grade levels and their coach. For state competition, the club took 9 out of their 12 people to Green Bay. Teams usually consist of nine students, categorized into three groups based on their grade point averages: Honor (A), Scholastic (B), and Varsity (C).
“The different categories we test in are literature, math, economics, social science, science, art, music, essay, speech, and interview,” senior Andrew Rozek said.
Rozek has been in Acadeca since his freshman year.
“I heard about it over the announcements and thought it would be fun to join,” Rozek said. “I enjoy academic competition, and this allows me to engage in academic competition.”
The last time Academic Decathlon went to state was in March 2021. This was a time when COVID-19 heavily impacted in-person events, so the competition was virtual.
“I was very excited, as we haven’t gone to state since my freshman year and even then, it was all online, so this was my first time going in person,” Rozek said.
Another person who went to state was junior Thomas McCarthy. This was his first year in Acadeca. He joined because he wanted another extracurricular activity to add to his college applications.
“I like broadening my general knowledge in a wide range of subjects we are tested on such as music and art. I also enjoy going to the competitions to practice life skills such as speeches and interviews as well as meeting people from all over the state,” McCarthy said.
Unlike Berlin, some other schools have classes specialized for Academic Decathlon that help them prepare for the testing.
“At state I was the top scholar for Berlin, but wasn’t top three in any of the categories or top three overall. I scored a total of just over 6,000 points out of 10,000,” McCarthy said.