Last Saturday, the Chardon High Academic Decathlon team placed second in the state meet out of nine teams, sending them to nationals, which will be held on April 25.
The Academic Decathalon team meets in zero period, which means coming to Chardon High almost an hour before school. Despite this early start there is still a dedicated team present every morning preparing for competitions. Academic Decathlon is an interscholastic competition in ten academic events ranging from Math and Science to Art and Language Literature. The team is made up of three “A” students three “B” students and three “C” students, so even if one is not an exceptional student he or she can still compete on the team.
Coached by Mr. Herner, the team is comprised of Katie Goodge, Jem Shaffer, Jackie Schlag, Ray Bender, Erin Grantham Danny Kirchner, Kirsten Goodge, Jessica Gehring and Dakota Rumford. Alternates for the team are David Nedrow, Gwen Norsic, and James Brookshire. The National Competition will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, however the toppers will take the test from the comfort of the Chardon High Library.
Coming in second to a powerful Willoughby South team at states, the Hilltoppers managed to bring home an impressive amount of hardware. Senior Katie Goodge won Bronze in Language Literature, Silver in Math and Gold in Interview. Bringing home Silver in Speech and Gold in Interview was Ray Bender. Freshman Danny Kirchner nabbed Silver medals in Music and Social Studies, and also obtaining a Bronze in Speech. Junior Kirsten Goodge and Senior Jessica Gehring earned Silver in Math and Gold in Speech respectively. Rounding out the medals, with a team high of five was Senior Dakota Rumford who collected Bronzes in Math and Science and Silvers in Essay, Interview, and Economics. Chardon did not medal in Art History. Although Sophomores Jem Schaffer and Jackie Schlag did not win medals, their scores helped propel Chardon into the second spot. The alternates on the team also competed against other alternates. Freshman David Nedrow snatched a bronze in Music, Sophomore Gwen Norsic got a Bronze in Math, and Junior James Brookshire earned a Bronze in Economics and Language Literature.
“I am very happy with our second place finish, and I am glad we are representing Ohio in the online nationals.” These were the words of Mr. Herner, the coach of the team, “The team worked very hard to get to this point, not just the whole team but the entire class.” Herner also added that the success was a team effort and not just the work of a select few.