{"id":14989,"date":"2019-02-15T08:11:30","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T16:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/goodnews.pylusd.org\/?p=14989"},"modified":"2019-02-15T09:14:32","modified_gmt":"2019-02-15T17:14:32","slug":"pylusd-students-shine-at-orange-county-academic-decathlon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnews.pylusd.org\/?p=14989","title":{"rendered":"PYLUSD students shine at Orange County Academic Decathlon"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, January 26, and Saturday, February 2, all four\u00a0Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District<\/a><\/span> (PYLUSD) comprehensive high schools competed\u00a0alongside\u00a038 other local high schools in the Orange County Academic Decathlon (OCAD).<\/p>\n

For 51 years, this event has invited\u00a0public and private high school students to compete in a series of academic tests and demonstrations. The topics cover a variety of academic disciplines, including art, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, mathematics, music, science, social science, and speech.\u00a0This year\u2019s theme was, \u201cThe 1960s: A Transformational Decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, February 12, it was announced that PYLUSD high schools earned top honors\u00a0at the OCAD Awards Ceremony at Santa Ana High School.<\/p>\n

In Division 1, Valencia High School<\/a><\/span><\/strong> (VHS) came in fourth place (fourth overall) for the second year in a row, earning the Tigers a wild card invitation to the state competition scheduled for March in Sacramento. Esperanza High School<\/a><\/span><\/strong> (EHS) also had a strong showing in Division 1, earning sixth place (sixth overall). The sixth place distinction marks the highest ranking the Aztecs have ever\u00a0received\u00a0in Academic Decathlon.<\/p>\n

In Division 2,\u00a0El Dorado High School<\/strong><\/a><\/span> (EDHS) won\u00a0fourth place (thirteenth overall). Yorba Linda High School<\/a><\/strong><\/span> also competed at the Division 2 level, earning many individual medals. In Division 1 and 2, PYLUSD is proud to have three teams ranked among the\u00a0top fifteen in Orange County!<\/p>\n

Here are the individual results from all four PYLUSD high schools:<\/p>\n

El Dorado High School<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The El Dorado Academic Decathlon Team competed in Orange County Division 2 and placed third in Super Quiz<\/strong> and fourth overall<\/strong>. Among all 42 high schools in the competition, they placed ninth overall in Super Quiz<\/strong> and thirteenth overall<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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El Dorado High School’s 2018-2019 OCAD team.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The highest scoring students were Nicholas Barajas, Dana Arneal, Sebastian Gutierrez, Teju Ramani, and Maverick Shuck. Together, the Golden Hawks earned 28 individual medals<\/strong>, including six\u00a0first place\u00a0medals. Teju Ramani and Nicholas Barajas each earned five\u00a0medals each. Jason Kison and Cameron Kish each earned 4 medals. Bailey Pettey and Alex Hernandez each earned 3 medals. Other team members were Eric Chang, Anita Mohajeri, Jasia Nakamoto, and Peter Weisel.<\/p>\n

This year’s team was lead by teacher Bob Kanne, as well as assistant coaches Janmarie Halliday, Amanda Wolf, Kelly Smith, and Tim Vrooman.<\/p>\n

Esperanza High School<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Esperanza Aztecs earned sixth place<\/strong> in Division 1 (sixth overall). Students received a total of 28 individual subject medals<\/strong> combined, with at least one medal earned in each of the ten competition categories. Here\u00a0is a list of the contributing students and individual medals won:<\/p>\n