Urbandale Community School District: UHS Academic Decathlon Team Takes 3rd Place At State Competition

Press release from the Urbandale Community School District:

March 8th, 2021

Congratulations to the Urbandale High School Academic Decathlon team for earning Third Place at the Iowa State Academic Decathlon Competition held on March 5-6, where they competed in 10 events related to the theme The Cold War. The team studied challenging materials to test their academic strength in Art, Music, Literature, Economics, Science, Social Science, Math, Essay, Speech, and Interviews. The state team consisted of Chloe McFarlane (captain), Bella Richards, Shay Kent, Michelle Beeman, Devin Ensley, Alex Perdue, Peggy Barley, Aldin Omerovic, and Alex Salas Tadeo. Alternates on the team were Jackie Hernandez, Will Jacobson, and Colten Teem. Well-done! #proudofU

The Cold War

Individual Awards:

• Shay Kent won the $500 Large School Scholarship
• Colten Teem was the top Scholastic overall scorer
• Shay Kent won Bronze awards in Economics and Essay in the honors division
• Alex Perdue won Bronze awards in Science and Economics in the scholastic division
• Peggy Barley won Bronze for her speech in the varsity division

Interested In Participating:
Next year’s theme will be “Water: A Most Essential Resource.” If you would like to participate, please email Mrs. Forristall at bairdforristallc@urbandaleschools.com

Front row, L-R: Peggy Barley, Michelle Beeman, Devin Ensley, Alex Salas Tadeo, Will Jacobson Back row, L-R: Jackie Hernandez, Bella Richards, Shay Kent, Chloe McFarlane, Colten Teem, Aldin Omerovic, Alex Perdue Photo credit Scott Pederson.

Back to front, L-R: Aldin Omerovic, Alex Perdue, Will Jacobson; Peggy Barley, Colten Teem, Chloe McFarlane; Bella Richards, Alex Salas Tadeo; Jackie Hernandez, Shay Kent; Devin Ensley, Michelle Beeman Photo credit Scott Pederson.

The Urbandale High School Academic Decathlon team earned Second Place at the Central Region Competition held on January 28-29, where they competed in 10 events related to the theme, “The Cold War.” The Regional teams studied very challenging materials to test their academic strength in Art, Music, Literature, Economics, Science, Social Science, Math, Speech, and Interviews.

Individual awards were won by every single competitor on the team which consisted of Chloe McFarlane (captain), Bella Richards, Jackie Hernandez, Michelle Beeman, Devin Ensley, Alex Perdue, Peggy Barley, Aldin Omerovic, and Alex Salas Tadeo. Alternates on the team were Shay Kent, Will Jacobson, Julie Deo, Brooklyn Dee, and Colten Teem.

Congratulations to the UHS Academic Decathlon Team for their 2nd Place finish in the Regional Competition! A tremendous amount of preparation and hard work resulted in these outstanding achievements. Thank you to UHS Extended Learning Program Teacher, Carrie Baird-Forristall, for facilitating, guiding, and leading these remarkable students. Urbandale CSD is incredibly #proudofU!

Individual Awards:

• Chloe McFarlane (Honors division): 1st place in Music & Art, 2nd place in Social Science & Literature
• Bella Richards (Honors division): 3rd place in Art
• Jackie Hernandez (Honors division): 2nd place in Speech
• Michelle Beeman (Scholastic division): 2nd place in Speech & 3rd place in Interview
• Devin Ensley (Scholastic division): 2nd place in Music & 3rd place in Art & Math
• Alex Perdue (Scholastic division): 2nd place OVERALL scorer; 1st place in Music, Science & Social Science; 2nd place in Art; 3rd place in Literature & Economics
• Peggy Barley (Varsity division): 2nd place in Speech & 3rd place in Math
• Aldin Omerovic (Varsity division): 1st place in Interview
• Alex Salas Tadeo (Varsity division): 2nd place in Music & Interview, 3rd place in Science

UHS Academic Decathlon Team: Peggy Barley, Bella Richards, Shay Kent, Michelle Beeman, Chloe McFarlane, Julie Deo, Aldin Omerovic, Colten Teem, Devin Ensley, Alex Perdue, Will Jacobson, Carrie Forristall (coach), Alex Salas Tadeo (not pictured: Jackie Hernandez and Brooklyn Dee).

This press release was produced by the Urbandale Community School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.