News in the Schools

Bishop Hendricken claims title at R.I. Academic Decathlon for sixth year running

La Salle Academy students also take home honors at statewide quiz competition

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WARWICK — Students from across the state gathered at the CCRI Knight Campus on Sunday for the annual Academic Decathlon, a high school competition in which students test their knowledge above and beyond the regular requirements of the curriculum. Bishop Hendricken defended its title as first place champion, while La Salle Academy, competing as two teams, also earned several honors.

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Students in the Academic Decathlon compete in 11 events, including seven academic exams, an interview, an essay, prepared and impromptu speeches and a final quiz round. Though the event is purely academic in nature, students prepare with the intensity of varsity athletes, receiving study material and beginning team meetings many months in advance.

“It’s extremely time-consuming, extremely stressful,” said Bishop Hendricken senior Nathan Tomasso, who, like many of his teammates, went home with several medals.

The Bishop Hendricken champions prepare for the competition under the watchful eye of Sister Carol Ann Murray, who has served as team coach and advisor for more than 20 years. Five years ago, Sister Murray’s team began a winning streak which they continue to defend with a thorough study schedule. The students begin preparation during the summer and continue to meet twice a week during the school year until the competition in March.

“She’s had a great track record, and she really knows what she’s doing,” said senior Miles Temel. “We’ve been introduced to a lot of academic disciplines that we wouldn’t have had access to in high school.”

On the day of competition, the Bishop Hendricken students gathered several hours before start time in the parking lot outside the building to say the prayer of St. Michael the Archangel, a team tradition. Along with a suit, each competitor wore a new pair of lucky socks, a gift from Sister Murray. The team rituals hint at the camaraderie behind the seriousness of the academic competition.

“As brutal as it is to spend hours studying, you get to spend time with the team, guys you like, and it’s just enjoyable,” said senior Geoffrey Boyer.

For Bishop Hendricken, the hours of preparation pay off. The students have won seven of the past eight competitions, traveling to national championships in locations as far away as California, Hawaii and, this year, Anchorage, Alaska. In addition to funds toward the trip, gold medal-winning seniors receive a $500 check from the Rhode Island Speaker of the House and a resume-booster on their college applications.

“They have really been a team, and they push each other,” said Sister Murray. “I think they’ve grown academically. This team has already been to nationals and they want to go again. It makes them better students all around.”

Bishop Hendricken students also fared well in the individual awards, winning medals in every subject area as well as the essay, interview and speech rounds. Hendricken students claimed eight of the nine top scorer awards, and senior Riley Chabot was named top scorer for the team.

La Salle Academy also took home several honors. Though adjusting to a young team after graduating many of their seniors last year, La Salle Academy students earned individual medals in the art, speech, science, interview and language and literature categories.

La Salle faculty coordinators Jessica Weber and Meghan Dillon also received honors, earning the Dr. Augustine Capotosto, Jr. Award for excellence in coaching and in recognition of the team’s tremendous growth. Because Academic Decathlon rules mandate that each team includes students with A, B and C grade point averages, Weber and Dillon said they recruited fellow teachers to help them draw kids from across the social spectrum who may not otherwise think of joining an academic competition.

“What we found is we have a lot of kids who specialize in one area, but this gives them an opportunity to get involved in a different way,” said Dillon. “For a lot of sophomores, it’s the first time they’ve been recognized for an academic team.”

“We try to get a diverse group of people to join,” added junior Elsie McLaughlin, who went home with five medals, including one for top team scorer. “You don’t have to have straight A’s to win awards.”

The competition’s final event, and also its most lively, is the Super Quiz Relay, which took place in the auditorium prior to the awards ceremony. The quiz replicates a game show format where students display their responses to multiple choice questions on lettered boards while team members cheer them on from the audience. Though the results are not calculated into the overall competition score, the winning school receives a separate award and, as one Bishop Hendricken student put it, “bragging rights.”

In keeping with the rest of the competition, Bishop Hendricken students took first place in the quiz, adding it to the list of honors they will carry with them to the national championship. The students have a little more than a month to prepare for the April 29 event, which covers the same material but promises a higher level of competition. For many of the students, the championship will be one of the final events they participate in as high school seniors.

“I’ve been very fortunate, this is a wonderful team,” said Sister Murray. “I’ll be sad to see them graduate.”

Decathlon