By Jerome Page
Special to The Herald

“Academic Decathlon has been the single most enriching part of my four years in high school. There is something magical about the way thirty students, of many different backgrounds and skill levels, come together for a greater purpose. I’ll use all the study skills I’ve learned and I love the medals I’ve won, but AcaDeca is more than that. I have met my best friends in that class, people I will keep in contact with for the rest of my life. And with them I got to participate in a teaching-learning environment unlike any other. I’m just so grateful that I got to be a part of it.”
— Katie August

* * *

“This class has done one thing in particular. It allowed me to mature at levels I never could have imagined. Being able to teach a subject like a teacher would is something completely extraordinary for someone my age. Also, being around kids older than me gives me others to look up to and try to emulate.”
— Blake Zabrek

* * *

“Academic Decathlon has been an amazing experience for me and the source of all my best high school friends and memories. Being part of a community of peers who share a passion for learning is a rare opportunity and I have found nothing like this class anywhere else. Beyond competition, this class and Ms. Finn have prepared us for intelligent and insightful living, keeping us from being ‘milk-fed veal,’ as she says. We have learned how to give a presentation, how to study, and how to work with a team. AcaDeca has been a crucial part of my development into adulthood and I feel so blessed to have been a part of this program.”
—Katherine Getchell

THE CLASS THESE STUDENTS REFER TO is Teresa Finn’s Academic Decathlon course at Benicia High School. Before going on to why these students feel as they do, I’d like to offer a brief summary of this somewhat complex — and wholly extraordinary — program.

The course involves forming competitive academic teams consisting of nine students, three with GPAs higher than 3.75 (Honors); three with GPAs between 3.0 and 3.75 (Scholastic) and three with GPAs below 3.0 (Varsity). Benicia usually fields three teams.

Given one overarching theme each school year, students study, learn, self-teach and compete with those at their academic level in regional, state and national competitions; scores for the team as a whole draw from the top two students in each level. The effect of this dependency on the team as a whole and on all participants appears to me to be one of the great strengths of the program. One can, I believe, grasp this most clearly by reading the student comments I have featured in this piece.

* * *

EACH YEAR THE NATIONAL AcaDeca organization selects the central theme — this year, for example, it was the Great Depression; next year’s theme is the Age of Empire. Each student is given a sizable book of reference materials and study guides pertaining to the theme — so sizable, in fact, that one student remarked that the hardest part of the course was carrying the book around every day!

In the contests themselves, the students take 30-minute multiple-choice tests in the subjects of economics, art, music, language and literature, mathematics, science, and social science as they pertain to the overall theme. The economics of the Great Depression is a well-studied subject; but how about the art and music of the period?

In addition, each team member gives a planned four-minute speech and an extemporaneous two-minute speech, is put through a seven-minute interview and is given 50 minutes to write an essay. To conclude, a “Super Quiz” is held that includes both a writing test and what is called “Oral Relay,” which deals with either science or social science.

In effect, the whole process represents a kind of general education program at the high school level compressed into one class. Much of the material is at the early college level, which is why students can receive college credit by taking the course.

* * *

AS A FORMER EDUCATOR, I became interested in the program and Ms. Finn agreed to allow me to visit the class. For purposes of writing about the program, I sat in as an observer for 10 sessions over two months and met separately several times with the class’s student leaders.

Before I comment on the program — especially with respect to the demands it makes on the participants — I want to note an important element in Benicia’s version of AcaDeca. Teresa Finn, the teacher-coach, has emphasized to her students that the competition is not the central point of the course — that the learning experience itself is paramount. In her approach, she constantly hews closely to that principle.

Clearly, the competition helps to spark individual commitment and a dedication to teamwork. But the very positive results of Ms. Finn’s emphasis can be seen throughout the program and in the feelings of students about what it has meant to them.

In my visits, I listened to student presentations, ranging from tentative to polished, on a variety of subjects. I observed something of the fluid structuring of the class, including a great deal of class interaction from small group work to total class involvement. In the sessions I attended, there was only very brief involvement of the teacher during the class.

There appeared to be a continuous flow from one class day to the next, with the teacher and student leaders apparently meeting whenever necessary to discuss and guide the process.

A session might include, for example, a major student presentation, several short practice speeches, group meetings or a game show-type competition. In short, there were few restrictions on learning method. I clearly saw a unique level of relaxed but focused communication, a kind of subdued excitement and an obviously very comfortable interaction and relationship between students — with a noticeable ratcheting up of intensity as competitions drew near.

On occasion Mrs. Finn did do direct teaching (or coaching), such as in helping a student polish a speech and delivery. But what she appeared to focus on most was developing the talents of the individuals for leadership, for teaching each other, and for maximum contribution to the group. She did much of this outside regular class time.

A key component to all this: Leadership — and student roles in teaching in the subject areas — was apparently related not to status or grade level, but to students’ command of the material and competence.

“This class takes all ages, freshman to senior, of all academic abilities,” Finn said. “Curiosity and hard work are all that is required.”

* * *

ON A FEW OCCASIONS, I met at my home with some of AcaDeca’s leaders: first with Katie August, Katherine Getchell, Daniela Bayon, Gus Costas and Justin Duhow, and in subsequent extended meetings with Katie, Katherine and Daniela, where we discussed the program at length.

These sessions were, for me, a high point of the experience. I owe a debt of gratitude to those students. Nothing so impressed me in my extended time with Katie, Katherine and Daniela as the enthusiasm and excitement with which they discussed the achievement of others in the class — particularly the progress of “Varsity” (C level) members of the teams.

These were three of the high-achieving seniors in the class and their interest in the other students, their praise for them, was striking and quite moving.

Later, as I read the evaluations of some freshmen and sophomores new to the program, I encountered a fascinating confirmation of those relationships from, in a sense, the other side. This came in the emphasis of the younger students on how deeply they appreciated the support and acceptance as peers by the older students, as well as their help.

To understand the full impact of this experience, I suggest an illuminating memory exercise. Those of you 20 or 30 years old, and on up the scale, try recalling in memory your high school freshman year and your view then of those of the stature, maturity and social “distance” of seniors like these!

To invest this descriptive material with greater flavor, I am going to briefly anticipate my conclusions and comment on what I began to see in the program and wrote up as a preliminary assessment after seven visits.

First, it became obvious to me from observing those class interactions that this was a remarkable program in its unique mix of student leadership and demands upon the students. There is a spirit of camaraderie and warm interaction among the students that is quite unusual; so, too, is the emphasis on teamwork. There is an unusual intensity of involvement in mastering materials and techniques. The strategies involved appear to encourage learning to learn — valuing learning and, clearly, experiencing and relishing the excitement of learning. The entire process appears to be highly motivating.

Perhaps this is because the program provides for exposure to a wide variety of subject areas as well as to writing and to speaking. I heard about, though I did not experience, the students’ out-of-class experiences that included heavy study mixed with lighter moments — bonding together and having fun.

* * *

I HAD ORIGINALLY THOUGHT TO use a sprinkling of student quotes about this experience throughout my own expression of views. However, as I read these comments and felt the impact of their words — their directness and honesty, their unique awareness and sense of this educational impact in their lives — I realized they summed up this program for me with an eloquence I found riveting, compelling and hard to match. It is impossible to read them without becoming keenly aware of the value of this experience in the lives of these students.

I have therefore devoted the entire middle and concluding sections of this evaluation to their voices. I think you will share my interest. In this section I have tied the elements of my initial assessment to the various ways in which students viewed the experience.

My assessment: There is a spirit of camaraderie and warm interaction among AcaDeca students that is unusual. (Interestingly enough, three students also used the term “camaraderie” to describe their relationships with classmates; approximately one-third of the students used the term “family.”)

“The relationship between classmates in this class is special because unlike other classes, ours is not only like a team, but also a family. We spend a lot of time getting to know each other outside of class, so it’s a friendlier and more inviting atmosphere than most.” — Caleb Parker

“This is one of my only classes that I am a friend with EVERYBODY!” — Blake Zabrek

“I most value the camaraderie which everyone shares in this class. No one is completely left out in our class, and everyone has someone they can go to for help.” — Daniel Klapstein

“I would highly recommend Academic Decathlon because you meet people you never thought you would meet and we all form a family.” — Rachael Roberts

“In AcaDeca, we are all one big family and we try to help take care of one another. Not many classes have that sense of unity.” — Marques Taylor-McConner

My assessment: The emphasis upon teamwork is very clear and appears to dominate much of the interaction between classmates.

“I love my classmates. They are an incredible set of people and I feel more bonded with them because we are a team.” — Xavier McLen

“What I most value about Academic Decathlon, besides the knowledge I have gained, is lessons it’s taught me about working as a team. I’ve played on
my fair share of sports teams, but this team has taught me more than any one of those have.” — Matt Escalante

“This class has meant so much to me because you feel like you are part of a team where everyone is helping you.” — Sophia Marie Diaz-Muca

“It has helped me learn and work together better. It has changed me to help others.” — Dane Woodland

My assessment: There is an unusual intensity of involvement of the students in mastering their materials and techniques.

“The part of this experience that had a great affect on me is just how much you need to study for these evil tests. So much studying but it was definitely worth it. This program really has changed me.” — Thomas Cross

“Before I took this class, I was unsure of my abilities and limits and I was not highly motivated. This class taught me that with enough hard work and self-determination I too can achieve high standards.” — Gus Costa

2010-11 AcaDeca roster
Darius Adel
Louis Alfeld
Katherine August
Daniela Bayon
Allegra Cannito Buch
Ernest Ciarrocchi
Matthew Colvin
Augustus Costa
Thomas Cross
Cameron Cuenco
Christopher Davis
Sophia Diaz-Muca
Brendan Duhow
Andrew Escalante
Matthew Escalante
Shane Frisinger
Katherine Getchell
Nicholas Getchell
Max Hogan
Scott Johnson
Daniel Klapstein
Xavier McLen
Daniel Paje
Katherine Park
Caleb Parker
Rachael Roberts
Richard Taylor
Marques Taylor-McConner
Dane Woodland
Blake Zabrek

PART II: Enrichment and maturity: More on Benicia’s Academic Decathlon class

By Jerome Page
Special to The Herald

I HAVE HAD A LIFETIME OF EXPERIENCES in professional education, including, as a professor, visiting innumerable classes and serving on a great many high school accreditation teams. In my judgment, the Academic Decathlon is not only a unique program — it is one of the most outstanding I have witnessed or am aware of.

Incorporated in the AcaDeca program are an unusual spirit of cooperation and an impressive commitment to the group, coupled with an intense demand for the best possible individual effort. When to these is added an emphasis on student leadership and teaching — in addition to the extraordinary amount and quality of work required — the overall result is a remarkable educational experience that brings out the best qualities of students.

* * *

ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING features of the program is the degree to which the emphasis on teamwork — upon everyone being important to the effort — has affected many students’ feelings about relationships, about attitudes toward learning and, most profoundly, about their enhanced and powerful sense of their own capacities. In reading opinion from every student evaluation sheet I received, all, without exception, commented on these effects upon them and their sense of themselves as learners. You have read some of these already; more follow.

AcaDeca, for many of these students, is very clearly a beginning — the opening of possibilities and the awakening of capacities of which they were unaware. It entails for most the creation of a real excitement in learning. This is combined in a remarkable experience — the competition itself — that teaches them what it means to work productively with, to care for and to enjoy the thrill of competition with others.

This meshing of the creative skills of a gifted teacher, a format that lends itself to intense student involvement and a class of highly motivated students in the Benicia High School Academic Decathlon class has, in my view, resulted in an extraordinary learning experience.

* * *

I CONCLUDED THE FIRST PART OF THIS ARTICLE by comparing my own early assessments of the program, after seven visits, with the students’ own reactions and evaluations. I continue that process below, focusing on several additional observations I’d made and, again, quoting related student reaction to the program.

This is followed by a summary and conclusions.

My assessment: The techniques involved in AcaDeca appear to encourage learning to learn — valuing learning and experiencing the excitement of learning, vital and central aims of education. The entire process appears to be highly motivating.

“It has very much increased my motivation and willingness to learn and learning capacity … after this experience, I love studying.” — Xavier McLen

“The part of this experience that has had the greatest effect upon me is that I now know that there is more than one way to absorb what you hear, see, and learn, and that since you figure out the best way in which you do learn it can have a tremendous affect on your learning experience.” — Gus Costa

“I have discovered what I truly like to do: learn. It has expanded my horizons to places that I was not previously aware of.” — Max Hogan

“The experience (changed) my motivation and my capacity to learn.” — Rob Alfeld

“This changed my capacity to learn in a way that I can take a huge amount of material and break it down into understandable and bearable chunks that won’t drive me to insanity. … The way this program is organized has (given me) the ability to be more efficient in the work I put into it.” — Caleb Parker

“Frankly, I found out that I need to be able to keep studying even if I’m hitting my head on my binder half the time. I also found out that apparently, my brain can holds lots of things for quite some time — quite a lot more than I figured at first!” — Daniel Paje

“This class has definitely taught me that studying DOES help.” — Matt Escalante

My assessment: The program provides historical perspective, relating past and present.

“The best part of this experience, I would have to say, is the ability to study in such depth and understand at a deeper level a time period in history that shaped our country and lives even today. … The greatest effect this experience had on me would have to be being able to see now our current economic problem really isn’t all that bad compared to how bad off we were at one point as a country.” — Caleb Parker

“Having a full background on a particular event/period expands your knowledge of life today.” — Blake Zabrek

My assessment: Obviously I was unable to gauge the effects of this experience on overall school experience and approaches to other classes. But a number of the students noted the salutary effect of AcaDeca on their studies overall.

“This class has definitely taught me that studying DOES help, so I’ve been motivated to study more in my other classes so I can turn those B’s I get on tests to A’s. I’ve ultimately learned that I can always know more about something and that effort can lead to rewards.” — Matt Escalante

“This class has absolutely motivated me to work harder. Turning something in on time and working hard on it gives you a really good feeling and it pays off. I try to get that feeling in all classes now. I am more interested by things that I wouldn’t have been interested in before.” — Anthony Ciarrocchi

My assessment: The program provides for exposure to a wide variety of subject areas and learning experiences, including speaking and writing. In character, it is a prelude to those General Education courses offered by many colleges and has a number of similar goals. Much of the material to be mastered is at beginning college level.

“The thing that was most challenging was the math section. But the Super Quiz and Social Science were fun this year.” — Thomas Cross

“It is always difficult to memorize my speech, but I enjoy giving it.” — Daniel Klapstein

“AcaDeca was my favorite and most beneficial choice in an elective. Not only did I learn a lot, I had so much fun doing it. I learned how to give a great impromptu and to memorize my speech, which I didn’t think was possible.” — Marques Taylor-McConner

* * *

BEFORE GOING INTO MY OWN final summary and assessment of the program, I post here the competition results for this year’s Benicia team. It had an extremely successful 2011 competition, attaining the best score in all 21 years that Benicia High has offered the program. The first team placed third in the region, second in the county and also took home a second-place trophy for Team SuperQuiz. The second team also had a strong showing, placing seventh overall. Fifteen Benicia competitors earned a total of 44 medals, 16 of them gold and 22 from the first team alone.

This represents an achievement of which each one of these students can and should be very proud. In a deeper, more fundamental sense, as one reads the students’ evaluations of the program and its personal impacts on them, it seems unmistakably clear that independently of the competition, every student achieved his or her own “first place.” I mean this not in some sentimental and casual sense, but what I read from these students is that this has been a high point — perhaps even a game-changer — in their lives and in their sense of their own capacities and possibilities.

For this especially, every member of this class can and should be congratulated.

* * *

IN CLOSING, I WANT TO THANK Teresa Finn for this opportunity and to acknowledge the quality of her outstanding leadership of this remarkable program. I want further to express my admiration of and deep appreciation to this exceptional group of students for the opportunity I have had to share in some small part of their experience.

To put this directly and personally, you are an exciting group — as so many of you said, an “amazing group.” Meeting with you and experiencing your dedication has been a privilege — and surely, from a personal viewpoint, deserving of the full measure of the song we shared in my last visit and the message of its last line!

Finally, giving students the last as well as first word, I append an additional set of testimonials to what this experience has meant to them.

“Academic Decathlon has changed me as a person more than any other class has done before. (It) has meant so much to me. Not every high school student gets to acquire so much knowledge in one class alone and gets to do it with all their friends with them. This class has taught me to think, act and focus in new ways and has shaped my high school experience more than anything else.” — Gus Costa

“This environment has made me realize what kind of person I want to be as I, in a sense, leave one part of my life and move forward to the next. Seeing the variety of other kids in the program with me has given me living examples of what I am and what I could be.” — Darius Adel

“This class has been so amazing. I have gained friends and competed against them and had a great time doing it. Being under the guidance of one amazing teacher, Ms. Finn, I have learned how to ‘function,’ as we call it. I will greatly value this experience for the rest of my life.” — Anthony Ciarrocchi

“First, I learned, within the first weeks, to use my time to my advantage; often prioritizing my work, and not waiting until the last minute but instead working on it piece by piece. Also, it made me a better team player and it made me challenge myself, something my past classes never succeeded in.

This would never have been achieved without the help and support of my classmates. Not only did they help me sharpen my skills on some of my greatest subjects, but they also made me stronger in my areas of weakness. They were all very welcoming and they always supported me, even if it was as little as a ‘Good luck, Marques!’ That simple morale boost would give me all the courage I needed.” — Marques Taylor-McConner.

AS A CLOSING HIGHLIGHT, I end this piece with the following three statements that I believe fully capture in just a few but very compelling words the general class view of the Academic Decathlon experience.

“This class has been, well, a blast. Loads more fun than I or probably any of the new people expected. It is learning — and hardcore learning at that. But it is surely not dull or straining.”
— Daniel Paje

* * *

“This class has made my first year in high school the most memorable for a long time to come. This class has just been so wonderful and I’m extremely glad I took it.” — Thomas Cross

* * *

“The experience I’ve had while taking this class is absolutely amazing. Words can hardly describe it. I love it so much, and wish I had taken it my freshmen and sophomore years. I will always miss this class.”
— Max Hogan

Jerome Page is a Benicia resident. He has taught at all levels, been a school administrator and created and directed both inner city education programs and an experimental school in New York. He has a doctorate in administration of higher education and taught at Sacramento State University for 24 years.