Watch CBS News

Granada Hills School Wins State Academic Decathlon 2nd Consecutive Year

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The team from Granada Hills Charter High School has won the state's academic decathlon for the second consecutive year.

The 33rd annual California Academic Decathlon was held in Sacramento.  El Camino Real Charter High School placed second, followed by Marshall High School from Los Feliz. During last year's competition, Marshall earned a second place finish, followed by El Camino Real, said Ken Scarberry, executive director of the California Academic Decathlon.

An estimated 500 high schools and approximately 13,000 students from 42 counties and school districts in California take part in the competition. The decathlon began Thursday and ended Sunday.

Academic decathletes take 30-minute multiple choice tests in the subjects of Economics, Art, Music, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science. Each team member also gives a planned 4-minute speech and a 2-minute impromptu speech.

Contestants also sit through a 7-minute interview and have 50 minutes to write an essay.

The makeup of each of the nine member teams include three A students, three B students and three C or below students.

Granada Hills now goes to the national decathlon. Since the national competition began in 1982, California has won 17 national titles and 11 second place finishes.

The victorious Granada Hills Charter High School decathletes returned from Sacramento Sunday night. An 8 a.m. rally and reception will be held for the team Monday.

(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.