Granada Hills Charter Wins US Academic Decathlon Fourth Time In 5 Years
GARDEN GROVE (CBSLA.com) — Granada Hills Charter High School has done it again!
The school's academic decathlon team won its fourth U.S. championship in five years.
The three-day competition, held this year at Garden Grove's Hyatt Regency Hotel, draws some of the nation's brightest teens.
Granada Hills edged out 32 other state champion teams, along with 10 teams from China and two from Great Britain. They tallied 53,592.3 points out of a possible 66,000. To win, they had to be whizzes in 10 categories, from art to science.
"Congratulations to the members of the Granada Hills Charter team for your exemplary performance," LAUSD Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines said. "With your laser-like focus, team spirit and devotion, you proudly represented the LAUSD to the rest of the country."
The team consists of students Peter Cho, Jenean Docter, Natalie Gonzalez, Jasmin Kim, Irene Lee, Tanthai Pongstien, Fernando Sanchez and Jorge Zepeda, and headed by administrator Julia Howelman and coaches Matt Arnold and Jon Sturtevant.
Los Angeles' Garfield High School students Wendy Olvera, Allfonso Caballero, Joseph Nabor and Brian Rios won medals at the championship in essay, music, art, interview, literature, economics, science and social science.
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