EL CAMINO CONQUERS SCHOOL WINS 8TH CITY TITLE.Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. - El Camino High School "El Camino High School" may refer to:
``I'm overwhelmed,'' said 17-year-old El Camino senior Samantha Henry, wearing several medals around her neck. ``It's just amazing. Just having it happen, you can only dream about it.'' The ballroom at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel The Westin Bonaventure Hotel is the largest hotel in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is 367 feet (112 meters) tall and has 35 floors. It was completed in 1977. The top floor has a revolving restaurant and observation level. filled with raucous cheers and noisy applause, as winners were announced on four screens in the room. Through the banquet, Alan Wittenberg, an 18-year-old El Camino senior, refused to believe the school might win. ``People were going, 'You guys have this,' but I didn't want to hear it until we got called,'' Wittenberg said. ``Just before they announced second place, I thought: Don't say us, don't say us.'' They didn't. El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
``Oh my God, it's like the most incredible feeling,'' said Grace Giles, an El Camino senior, who like others from the school is a rookie at the competition. ``It was worth it. Every minute of it.'' Three Los Angeles schools followed - Marshall with 43,455, Garfield at 41,702 and Los Angeles High with 41,276. North Hollywood finished fifth with 41,257. Palisades Charter High School Palisades Charter High School (usually abbreviated as "Pali High," "PaliHi," or uncommonly as "PCHS" / "PHS" ) is a secondary school in Los Angeles, California, United States. finished sixth. ``The competition is so strong, it's always a nail-biter,'' said El Camino co-coach Christian Cerone. El Camino is now the holder of eight LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) titles in the last 12 competition years, and has won four state championships. The school won the national title in 1998. ``El Camino is clearly the sprinters, the question is, Could they be the long-distance runners?'' said school board member David Tokofsky. The team, and the five runner-ups including North Hollywood, which scored among the highest in California, will now go to the state competition next month. ``It's all about the team,'' said Philip Tanedo, 16-year-old junior at North Hollywood, who won two bronze medals. ``My team is my family. They are the closest group of friends I've had in my life.'' Among San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. schools, Cleveland, Van Nuys and Reseda high schools finished 8th through 10th. ``It was hard. We had a lot of after-school hours,'' said Julie Carl, 17, a Cleveland senior, won a bronze and silver. ``It was tough but it was a lot of fun.'' Reseda's finish earned it most-improved honors, as the school jumped 21 places from its finish last year. Students invested weeks of grueling study hours, but the winners said their hard work had paid off. El Camino senior Dennis Kuo was the top-scoring student overall with 8,595 of a possible 10,000 points. ``It was worth it,'' Kuo said, a bit stunned, his neck was weighed down with medals. He wasn't alone. El Camino placed first based on the total number of points accumulated in 10 events that include multiple choice tests in art, language, literature, mathematics, music, science and economics. Each the team's nine students also gave two speeches, wrote an essay and participated in a panel interview. The final event - the two-part Super Quiz - was the only event scored as a team event. El Camino won seven of the 10 events. The school tied with Marshall in the Feb. 3 Super Quiz, the only public portion of the contest. Cerone, who coaches El Camino Real with Melinda Owen, said the team members feel confident that they will continue to the state competition. ``In the competition this year the tests were extremely difficult but they came out feeling good,'' Cerone said. El Camino, which had the highest score in economics, will receive the Perpetual trophy awarded by the Perryman Fund for the social studies. In addition, the fund gave a plaque and a $200 scholarship to Daniel Lee Daniel Lee is a name shared by several notable individuals:
Now the El Camino Real team is looking forward to the state championships, to be held March 16-18 in Los Angeles. The state winner advances to the U.S. Academic Decathlon April 16-22 in Anchorage, Alaska. An LAUSD school has represented California at the national competition 10 times in the 19 years of the LAUSD's decathlon participation. Other San Fernando Valley schools also enjoyed the experience. Irene Kim, 17, a senior at Granada Hills High School Granada Hills Charter High School (Granada Hills High School) is a public, charter, co-educational, secondary school consisting of students in grades 9-12. The school colors are green, black, and white. , said just being at the dinner was an amazing experience. ``It really brings a good ending to my senior year,'' she said. ``It feels great.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Members of the El Camino Real High School El Camino Real High School (also known locally as "ECR" and by some more recently as "ELCO") is a public secondary school located in the Woodland Hills district of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. Academic Decathlon team exult Friday in their victory in the Los Angeles Unified School District competition, beating 58 other schools and earning a spot in the state championship. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer! (2 -- color) Wearing dashikis Friday in honor of their study of African music African music, the music of the indigenous peoples of Africa. Sub-Saharan African music has as its distinguishing feature a rhythmic complexity common to no other region. , members of the Burbank High Academic Decathlon team celebrate their third-place showing in the Los Angeles County public schools contest. See Page 15. Raul Roa/Staff Photographer |
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