SHS AcaDeca has strong national competition

Sandpoint High School Academic Decathlon team has again put Idaho on the high school academic map.

The Sandpoint team of nine students recently attended the national competition in Pittsburgh, Pa., and scored fifth overall nationally, bringing home five gold medals, three silver medals, and six bronze medals in the medium-size high school division. 

"The team missed replicating their 2023 third-place finish by less than 5%, coach Becky Haag said.

The Sandpoint High School Academic Decathlon class is composed of 24 students, and the top three scoring students for competitions held in the same academic year from three different GPA divisions were able to comprise the "National Nine" team that flew to Pittsburgh last Wednesday. 

Students competed in the speech competition Thursday, securing two medals, and then tested in five subjective testing events Thursday. Schools from around the country — both private and public — competed in five divisions based on school population size and placement at their respective state meets.  Sandpoint is considered a medium-sized school (650 to 1300 student population) for the national competition and competed against other schools in this division.

Haag said three teams from Idaho competed based on overall school size. 

"As the state champions, Sandpoint represented well by bringing home the most medals and getting kudos from judges and other coaches," Haag said. "In the academic decathlon world, SHS has garnered a reputation of excellence and respect from other teams around the country.

The Sandpoint team continued a tradition of excellence that has been perpetuated for over a decade and represented the Sandpoint community well with their sportsmanship, behavior and display of high character, Haag said. 

After the competition was over, the team took a walking tour of Pittsburgh to appreciate the exquisite architecture and history in the big city and visited the Carnegie Art and Natural History Museum in celebration of a job well done.

"These were novel and inspiring experiences for our well-deserving decathletes," she said.

In addition to Haag, who teaches the class and is the coach, the team includes captain Will Clark, and members Jenna Hughes, Laurelyn Eastley, Bryn Eastley, Rachel Fedak, Sophie Capodagli, Wyatt Lang, Priscilla Hester, and Analise Mullen, would like to extend their sincere appreciation and gratitude to the community support and donations that made the trip possible.  

"Thank you to Sandpoint for supporting these kids.  They represent our community in stellar fashion and are truly amazing people," Haag said. "Seeing the students' excitement and awe experiencing architecture, art, and fossils that previously existed only in books for them but were suddenly right in front of their eyes was magical. Their appreciation was genuine."

Haag said it was inspiring to see the students' hard work pay off.

"Their excitement and pride as they prevailed over the finest academic minds in the nation also made my heart nearly burst, because I know their success was earned through long, arduous hours of study and hard work," she said. "Board members from the US Academic Decathlon approached our students to tell them how their speeches changed their lifelong-held perceptions and opened their minds. Our kids are making an impact."

Haag said the team looks forward to hopefully being granted the opportunity to make our community proud in next year's competition in Des Moines, Iowa. 

"Stay tuned, these incredible young people are going places," she said.

    Students compete at the national competition.