SHS AcaDeca team headed to nationals

SANDPOINT — After claiming a fifth straight state championship, the Sandpoint High School Academic Decathlon team is gearing up for nationals.

Broken into two sections, national finals are looming, beginning with an online portion this Thursday. The team also is preparing with practice events and subject research, Dana Stockman, SHS AcaDeca coach, and French teacher said.

“Right now, the main team is actively preparing for the USAD National Finals. They are doing the practice sign-in, practice essay, and practice art test. On Thursday, they begin their actual competition. They will write their essay and take their art, music, and literature tests then we leave April 26 to compete at the USAD National Finals in Frisco, Texas.” Stockman said.

Stockman took over the coaching position following Mary Bird’s 15-year tenure with the team. In that time Stockman said she hasn’t made any dramatic changes to how the team operates, except for expanding upon the program Bird built.

“She [Mary Bird] created a very smooth-running and successful program in its own right, and I didn't see the need to make many changes. Why reinvent the wheel?” Stockman said, “One major change I did make was to oversee the summer study sessions myself instead of just letting the kids do their thing during the summer.”

For the past five years, the team meets in Stockman’s backyard for reading, material discussion, bonding “and, of course, snacks,” Stockman said. The study sessions proved to be successful with not only the competition payoff each year but have grown to involve more students.

“Early on, maybe three to four students would come. This past summer, however, I usually had 12 to 15 students showing up regularly.” Stockman said.

At the start of last summer, Stockman said her team set a goal of placing higher in nationals after placing fourth in Division Three of last year's competition. In addition to the summer study session, Stockman said this year she has pushed the team to achieve the goal they set.

“They said (and I quote), ‘We want to win a trophy for you, Ms. Stockman,” Stockman said

“I have a really, really driven team this year. It is composed of about half returning decathletes and half new talent, who are indeed very talented, and they are very interested in this year's topic, which is the American Revolution,”

With hopes of placing top three for division two at nationals this year, Stockman said this AcaDeca class is the largest she has had in eight years of coaching, crediting the size of allowing diversity and strategic planning.

“With 29 students enrolled in the class, I had a lot of talent to draw from as I arranged and rearranged the teams for each competition to figure out the best combination of students for the best results at the state,” Stockman said

Each year the decathlon competition features a different theme and topic, with this year’s being the American Revolution. Students who aren’t competing at nationals will get a jump on next year's topic, which will be “technology and humanity,” creating games to introduce the team. Stockman said that with the hard work and dedication her team has put into achieving the goal they set is “a very strong possibility.” But the team does face one large obstacle — finances.

“We have one big obstacle between now and then, and that is raising the rest of the money needed to pay for our trip. We anticipate that we still need about $4,000 to cover our expenses (airfare, ground transportation, etc.),” Stockman said.

Traveling from Idaho to Texas for the finals, Stockman said the experience will unfold over four days starting on April 26 and continuing through April 29 when the results will be announced. The competition will lead the team through various topics from art and music to economics and science culminating in a Super-Quiz relay.

The week won’t be all business as competitors will get a night to relax and have fun Stockman said with games, movies, and an all-you-can-eat buffet.

District officials praised the team — and those who support the program.

As a district, Kristen Hawkins, Lake Pend Oreille school district community relations liaison, said Lake Pend Oreille School District officials said they wanted to thank PAFE for helping to financially support this program This year, Stockman was a recipient of a $3,600 grant called "SHS AcaDeca Examines America," Hawkins said.

“PAFE helps us to fund special opportunities at schools throughout LPOSD, supporting student education and experiences,” Hawkins said. “AcaDeca received one of the largest grants of the 45 given by PAFE to LPOSD for the 2022-23 school year. I think they invested wisely.”