Sandpoint High AcaDeca team ready for nationals

SANDPOINT — Nine Sandpoint High students are headed to the United States Academic Decathlon Nationals competition set to be held April 25-27 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Can the community rally together to help them bring home a national championship?

AcaDeca competitors, similarly to sports teams, perfect their craft over a long period of time, eventually reaping the rewards. Sandpoint High continues to prove that after winning their sixth straight state title this year. After placing third at nationals last year, the first time Sandpoint has ever placed on the big stage, the group is hungry for more.

“Showing the world that North Idaho can compete on the national level is pretty inspiring,” Sandpoint senior Keane Haesle said. “I'm really excited to see how we’re able to perform consistently — we did it last year, but can we do it again?”

Despite not seeming like it on the surface level, Sandpoint’s AcaDeca team requires the support of the entire community. Without dedicated teachers, volunteers, and parents, the existence and success of this local program would not be possible. The success of Sandpoint's AcaDeca team is no accident, however. 

AcaDeca students from every grade and GPA level come together to make this team whole. There are three different divisions within each team (Honors – 4.0-3.7 GPA; Scholastic – 3.7-3.2; and Varsity – 3.2 or below) and nine individuals qualify for nationals, three in each division. Representing Sandpoint High this year will be William Clark, Laurelyn Eastley, Jenna Hughes, Wyatt Lang, Rachel Fedak, Sophie Capodagli, Priscilla Hester, Analise Mullen, and Bryn Eastley. 

“Even though you have more people fighting for spots in the Honors category, you must have solid scholastic and varsity divisions to be a competitive team,” Haesle said. “It encourages us to reach out to people with lower GPAs and get them involved … once they join, they usually end up rising to the higher divisions.”

Haesle, who normally competes in the Honors division and is a team co-captain, opted out of this year’s competition to attend Admitted Students Weekend at Stanford University, but he is still very involved in helping the team achieve their goal of winning nationals.

How does the team achieve their goals exactly? Practicing like any other team would. AcaDeca students use 10 large binders, one for each category (social sciences, math, economics, literature, art, music, science, an essay prompt, an impromptu speech presentation, and an interview) that are split into different sections that correspond with the theme of the year. This year’s theme happens to be technology and humanity. Students read the binders over and over again, studying for hours at a time to consume the content. Also helpful, Sandpoint High offers Aca Deca as a class, so the team is able to practice during school hours two to three times a week in addition to studying outside of class. The practice has clearly been paying off at various competitions.

At competitions, just like how it will be at the national competition, the top two scorers from each team across all three divisions are collected and tallied up to equal the overall team score. This scoring methodology proves a team must do well in all divisions in order to win. There are also different team divisions – small, medium, and large schools. Sandpoint competes in the medium school division (650-1300 students) at nationals.

“It’s fun to work all season and have the motivation as a team with an overall goal to get it done,” Haesle said. “At nationals, you will see competition that’s from suburban areas in some well-known state … and we’re able to beat them as a team from North Idaho. It feels awesome.”

Fellow Sandpoint High co-captain William Clark agreed.

“Even though we're kind of in the middle of nowhere and in some ways unimportant to the nation at large, it’s cool that we get to be this force – we get to represent Idaho in this way,” Clark said.

Although not originally hooked on the idea of joining AcaDeca, Clark said he now loves it and is excited for this year’s national competition. Clark is one of two individuals who have been part of the program for all four years. Haesle on the other hand said he was drawn to the club due its culture of thoughtfulness, noting that Aca Deca is a club for those with intellectual vivacity and that the club serves as an outlet where one’s traits for learning are encouraged rather than stigmatized.

“Competition is just a vessel that gives motivation for that,” Haesle said. “Granted, I do like the competition a lot as I am a pretty competitive person.”

In addition to the competition, the team is hopeful to do a little exploring in Pittsburgh if time permits, but the ultimate goal is to bring home the national championship trophy. With all trips, however, costs do apply, and Sandpoint High’s AcaDeca team needs a little help from the community in order to succeed. 

To help this team achieve the lofty goals they have set forth, visit https://gofundme.com/f/sandpoint-academic-decathlon. All donations will go towards travel, lodging, and food expenses associated with the team’s trip to the national championship later this month.