• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

Well-rounded Wellesley High Academic Decathlon team shines at state meet, qualifies for online nationals

March 19, 2018 by Bob Brown 1 Comment

Wellesley High Academic Decathlon team
The Wellesley team at Harvard University for the State Championship on March 3rd. Back row (from L to R): Justin Mitchell, Shayla King, Sonia Subramaniam, Will Manning, Derek Mui, Javier Lopez, Quinn Moran. Front row (from L to R): Phil Simpson, Olivia Bogiages, Prachi Kelkar, Olivia Ong, Zoe Gomez.

 

To succeed in state- and national-level academic decathlons, teams need to be diligent about studying but also versatile in terms of the subjects they master. Wellesley High School’s team is both of those things, plus team members make sure they keep it fun, too, through countless visits to the local Lemon Thai restaurant, post-meet trips to get bubble tea, and team dinners in Boston.

This year’s team earlier this month competed in the Massachusetts Academic Decathlon State Championship at Harvard University, and earned honors as the large school champion with a score of 39,278.8. I mean, how can you go wrong with a score like that? WHS finished third overall in the state, and that qualified the team for the online nationals, which takes place on April 20.

Academic Decathlon is a national and international competition that includes seven objective tests (math, literature, social science, art, music, science, and economics)  focused on a common theme. The 2017-2018 theme was Africa, and next season it will be the 1960’s. In addition to the seven theme-based objective tests, there are also three subjective events (speech, essay, and interview). In order to beat teams from other schools and earn medals, decathletes must spend many hours reviewing lots of pages of college-level material, write and memorize a short speech, write an essay, and get interviewed. Competitions end with a game show-like Super Quiz relay, which is a fun, low-pressure event.

Wellesley Co-Captain Javier Lopez says, “Academic Decathlon is a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding, and it teaches you very practical studying and speaking skills that I feel I will use in the future.”

Wellesley’s Acadec club began meeting a couple of days a week after school in the fall and those who did best during a scrimmage were chosen to be on the official competing team in three divisions (Honors, Scholastic and Varsity). Members note that you don’t need a certain GPA to be a team member, and that alternates are chosen to attend meets as well.

Lopez, along with co-captains Sonia Subramaniam and Olivia Bogiages, all received individual awards at the recent state meet, and other team members also put up good scores. WHS will have a strong core heading into next season, but encourages those interested in joining to do so, as the team already has its sights set on qualifying for the 2018-2019 nationals in Minnesota.

Students interested in learning more about the club should feel free to reach out to any of the captains (Sonia Subramaniam – [email protected], Javier Lopez – [email protected], or Olivia Bogiages – [email protected]). WHS teacher Ryan Liacos serves as faculty advisor and coach for the team.

print
Share

Filed Under: Education

Comments

  1. Rick says

    March 19, 2018 at 5:05 pm

    Congratulations! And good luck in the online nationals!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Write Ahead

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Admit Fit, Wellesley
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Events Calendar

« January 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
Tue 26

Rum tasting and history talk

January 26 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Most Read Posts

  • Rise in COVID-19 cases forces Wellesley High back to all-remote
  • Spelling gives way at reconfigured Wellesley rotary
  • Wellesley Police arrest 3 juveniles following Crest Road-area car break-ins
  • At Wellesley High, you can't have too many robotics clubs
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: Babson might want to study us; Downtown Starbucks temporarily closed; Sisters of Charity partners

Pages

  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Please support our advertisers—they support us
  • Embracing diversity in Wellesley
  • Wellesley, MA Police logs
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • Barbara Moore Keever on Wellesley Animal Control Officer Sue Webb to retire after 45 years on the job
  • Anon on Wellesley Police arrest 3 juveniles following Crest Road-area car break-ins
  • PZ Maury on Wellesley Police arrest 3 juveniles following Crest Road-area car break-ins
  • TAhern on Wellesley Police arrest 3 juveniles following Crest Road-area car break-ins
  • Abe Froman on Wellesley Police arrest 3 juveniles following Crest Road-area car break-ins

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (4)
  • Animals (377)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (534)
  • Beyond Wellesley (28)
  • Books (342)
  • Business (1,356)
  • Camp (1)
  • Careers/jobs (44)
  • Churches (72)
  • Clubs (207)
  • Construction (280)
  • Dump (113)
  • Education (2,876)
    • Babson College (239)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (47)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (598)
    • Wellesley High School (883)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (36)
  • Entertainment (721)
  • Environment (663)
  • Fashion (133)
  • Finance (12)
  • Fire (141)
  • Food (327)
  • Fundraising (559)
  • Gardens (136)
  • Government (382)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (735)
    • COVID-19 (132)
  • History (357)
  • Holidays (365)
  • Houses (118)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (814)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (5)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (5)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (96)
  • Music (543)
  • Natick Report (26)
  • Neighbors (241)
  • Obituaries (58)
  • Outdoors (582)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (687)
    • Crime (344)
  • Politics (534)
  • Real estate (286)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (302)
  • Safety (142)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (107)
  • Shopping (121)
  • Sports (896)
  • STEM (104)
  • Technology (154)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (209)
  • Travel (11)
  • Uncategorized (1,205)
  • Volunteering (316)
  • Weather (161)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (258)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login