The Academic Decathlon (AcDec) team participated in the regional IX meet at Mesquite High School in Mesquite, Texas on Feb. 8-9. The team placed eighth out of 12 in region IX, and seniors Aaron Jackson, Alyssa Fox, Jacob Herod and Titus Seagraves won individual awards.

“The topic itself wasn’t necessarily difficult; it was actually a lot of fun,” AcDec teacher Shari Mayes said. “However, [team members] are studying seven different subjects, so we studied art about the ‘60s [and] music of the ‘60s; that was the fun part. Math is just math; they studied Algebra 2 and Statistics. Social science was all about the ‘60s. They studied light science and read a play called ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ and [studied] economics of the ‘60s.”

Members of the AcDec team spend time after school to study the separate topics of the ‘60s. They come together as a team to figure out the right answer; the extended knowledge serves to help them in future competitions.

“Most of [studying] is going through the question packets with other people on the team,” senior Brandon Grona-Gardom said. “Then you’ll answer the questions on your own one at a time and then come together as a group to figure out which one was right and the teacher will give you what the correct answer is.”

While all the work they have seems frightening AcDec enjoys it and the members collaborate together to learn. Through determination and the will to learn, the teachers make it enjoyable for all of the members.

“We try to incorporate some different methods,” Mayes said. “First of all [we] have guides we get from the United States Academic Decathlon Organization, so the information we get in the guides is what we use to study the different subjects.”

AcDec is an organized effort and with a ‘team first’ mindset. The stress of competitions and studying can be minimized to make it more enjoyable for the students and teachers involved.

“It’s only hard if you make it hard,” senior Alyssa Fox said. “If you have a good team and you guys get together and study, [AcDec] can be really fun.”