By Jake Panos

Academic Decathlon, also known as Acadeca, is a competition team that goes to a different school to partake in three events that have to be set around one general topic. The main goal of Acadeca is to score well enough in an interview, taking tests, and giving a two minute improv speech.

This year, the main topic of was Africa. “I found the theme of this year to be challenging. It was hard remembering the names of everything because they are different names in the United States” said junior Abby Patten. “All of the topics are fun, but I find the speech the hardest part. A person gets three questions to choose from, and only has one minute to prepare. The improv speech is supposed to be around two minutes which is challenging to do when you only have a minute to prepare.”

Academic Decathlon isn’t only a place to just take tests and give speeches, it’s also a place to have fun and learn new things that you wouldn’t normally be learning about. “It’s a fun surrounding, you get to learn new things about different subjects other than the normal school ones” said junior Rachel Lochner.

This will be the first time in three years since the Acadeca team has been to state, which will be in Fort Dodge on March 2nd and 3rd. The Acadeca team won seven individual awards during the competition, including SILVER Division Small School Social Science Honor, SILVER Division Small School Economics Honor, and GOLD Division Small School Mathematics Honor for Jeremy Ferguson. GOLD Division Small School Social Science Scholastic, GOLD Division Small School Economics Scholastic, and BRONZE Division Small School Mathematics for Gunnar Hageman. Lastly, a BRONZE Division Small School Speech Scholastic for Rachel Lochner.