North Bay Academic Decathlon To Conclude With 'Super Quiz'

FAIRFIELD, CA — Nearly 300 students from 15 high schools across Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties battled it out Saturday, Jan. 26 and will continue battling it out Saturday, Feb. 2 in the North Bay Region's Academic Decathlon at Solano Community College in Fairfield, according to a news release.

The theme of this year's academic decathlon — a competitive event modeled after the Olympics to stimulate academic achievement and honor "athletes of the mind" — is "The 1960s: A Transformational Decade."

"The Academic Decathlon provides enriching educational experiences that combine the relevant study of cultural and critical topics with strong reasoning and interpersonal skills," said Solano County Superintendent of Schools Lisette Estrella- Henderson. "The emphasis is on the personal growth of each student, who, by meeting the challenges with hard work and commitment, reaps the rewards of greater self-knowledge and self-confidence."

Teams participating in this year's competition include: Dixon High School of Dixon Unified School District; Armijo, Fairfield and Rodriguez high schools of Fairfield-Suisun USD; Vanden High School of Travis USD; Buckingham Charter High School of Vacaville USD; Jesse Bethel High School, MIT Academy and Vallejo High School of Vallejo City USD; Maria Carrillo High School of Santa Rosa City Schools District; Casa Grande and Petaluma high schools of Petaluma City Schools District; American Canyon High School of Napa Valley USD; Davis Senior High School of Davis Joint USD; and River City High School of Washington USD.

There are three days of regional competition this year, the first of which took place Dec. 4 and featured an online essay writing competition.

Saturday, Jan. 26 featured online testing at various schools throughout Napa, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo counties. Tests included the subjects of: Art, Economics, Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science and Social Science.

Saturday, Feb. 2 will feature speeches and interviews in the morning followed by the popular Super Quiz — the only event open to the public (other than the awards ceremony) — at 3:30 p.m. in the Solano Community College gymnasium.

The competition will conclude with an awards ceremony at 5:15 p.m. this Saturday, also in the SCC gymnasium. The evening will conclude with an announcement of the teams advancing to the California Academic Decathlon, set for March 21-24 in Sacramento.

The winning California team will advance to the United States Academic Decathlon, to be held April 25-27 in Bloomington, Minnesota.

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