Taft High Wins District’s Academic Decathlon : Education: The nine-member team outscores 54 others from L.A. schools for chance to compete in state competition in March.
A group of nine students from Taft High School in Woodland Hills won the Los Angeles Unified School District academic decathlon Tuesday, outscoring 54 other teams to earn the right to represent the city in a statewide tournament in March.
Taft scored 47,879 points out of a possible 60,000, well ahead of second-place University High School of West Los Angeles, which received 44,713. El Camino Real High School, Taft’s cross-town rival and last year’s champion, came in third with 44,180 points.
In a separate county competition that did not include Los Angeles city schools, a team from William S. Hart High School in Santa Clarita scored 42,443 points and finished second behind West High School in Torrance. The county competition pitted 67 schools against each other for the championship, which was also announced in Montebello on Tuesday.
In addition to the Los Angeles city district championship--the fruit of several months of intensive studying--the jubilant Taft students harvested 44 individual medals in subjects ranging from history to math. In the speech category, an impressive eight of the nine Taft students won medals, seven of them gold.
“Unprecedented--I’ve never seen this before,†said Taft coach Michael Wilson, as a noisy retinue of parents and school officials arose with loud cheers at a tense awards banquet at the Westin Bonaventure hotel downtown. “I mean, I knew we were good in speech, but seven!â€
The team also took home the coveted Super Quiz trophy for its performance in a rowdy “College Bowlâ€-like portion of the competition, which was held Nov. 14.
“The Super Quiz was the most exciting day of my life and a great achievement by these kids,†Wilson said.
The victory for Taft represented a return to the winning form the school displayed in taking the district championship twice previously since the contest began 11 years ago. In 1989, the Taft team went on to take first place in the national tournament, beating back a challenge by students from Texas--the only state besides California to hold the national title in the 11-year history of the event.
By winning this year’s district championship, the Taft team also exacted a measure of revenge for last year’s loss to El Camino Real. Last year, the El Camino crew took the state championship and eventually placed fourth in the national contest.
Taft team captain Chris Hoag, 17, said the months of cramming for a common goal have inspired unity in a group that started out with feelings of competition among some team members.
“We’ve become very close,†Chris said. “When you put that much trust in someone, it brings you together.â€
Only four schools have shared the district title since the competition began in 1981. Besides Taft and El Camino, past winners included Marshall High School in Los Angeles and Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades.
Each decathlon team boasts nine members, evenly divided between students with A, B and C grade-point averages. The competition tests students in six academic subjects ranging from fine arts to physics. Contestants must also write essays, deliver prepared and impromptu speeches and submit to personal interviews.
This year’s theme, repeated in tournaments across the country, is “A Diversity of Achievers,†focusing on the lives of 30 famous world figures in such fields as the arts, business, education, government and religion.
In March, about 45 teams from around the state will gather in Stockton to vie for the honor of representing California in the national contest. The national tournament will be held in Phoenix in April.
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