EL CAMINO TEAM GETS HEROES' WELCOME.Byline: Jeanne Mariani-Belding Daily News Staff Writer The whiz kids “Whiz Kids” redirects here. For other uses, see Whiz Kids (disambiguation). The Whiz Kids were ten United States Army Air Forces veterans of World War II who became Ford Motor Company executives in 1946. They were led by their commanding officer, Charles B. from Woodland Hills - who narrowly missed capturing the U.S. Academic Decathlon decathlon (dĭkăth`lŏn), in modern Olympic games, a contest for men held over two days and composed of 10 track-and-field events. title in Atlanta - arrived home Monday to fanfare fit for champions. 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 was met at Los Angeles International Airport “LAX” redirects here. For other uses, see LAX (disambiguation). “KLAX” redirects here. For other uses, see KLAX (disambiguation). Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX, FAA LID: LAX by the school's cheerleaders Notable cheerleaders
``We made quite a scene at the airport. The kids were really stunned and flattered,'' said Ron Bauer, El Camino's principal, who traveled with the team. ``They were champs in my opinion - win, lose or draw Win, Lose or Draw was an American television game show that aired from September 1, 1987 to September 7, 1989 on NBC and in syndication from 1987 to 1990. It was taped at CBS Television City, often in Studio 33, and occasionally in Studio 31. - and I told them that,'' Bauer said. ``I think so highly of their efforts. They set a tone for our school that says this is a place where academics are important.'' The nine El Camino seniors and their coaches took Monday off to recuperate re·cu·per·ate v. To return to health or strength; recover. . They are expected to return to school today. ``We're going to try to really let these kids know how much we appreciate their efforts,'' said Bauer, adding that the school is planning a special lunchtime assembly Thursday to honor the team. It's been a grueling 10-month quest for the 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:
The team's journey for the title ended Sunday - landing them painfully close with a second-place finish. The squad lost to Texas rival, Houston's J. Frank Dobie High School J. Frank Dobie High School is a public secondary school located at 10220 Blackhawk in Houston, Texas with a ZIP code of 77089. The school follows the classic high school model serving grades 9 through 12 and is the largest school in the Pasadena Independent School District. . As a team, El Camino chocked up 49,550 to Dobie's 49,835 points, officials said. Although the team missed capturing the title by a slim 285 points - just a fraction of a percent less than the Texas team - El Camino's brain squad had quite an impressive showing. They garnered 34 honors individually - the most of any team of the 40 states represented in the competition. El Camino Real's team includes Matthew Backes, Eldar Brodski, Arabella David, Isis Okowita, Sarah Sabolek, Dale Shuger, Jenny Stefanotty, Kasra Torabi and Justin Weaver. All are seniors. The team's coaches are David Roberson and Sharon Markenson. Shuger, El Camino's team captain, captured the decathlon's highest honor. Shuger accrued the most points during the competition - a distinction that earned her a $3,000 scholarship. The Harvard bound teen-ager won two gold medals, two silver ones and a bronze. ``As far as coming in second, we all would have like to come in first, but in the long run, we tried our best, and we got so much out of it,'' Shuger said. ``It's not tragedy of the century,'' she said. ``I'm looking forward to having more free time, to enjoying my senior year and to going away to college next year.'' The decathlon consisted of 10 events that test the students' knowledge of economics, fine arts, language, literature, math, science, social studies, speech and essay writing and personal interviews. The Super Quiz, done much like a television quiz show in front of a live audience, hones in on a single topic. This year's topic was the United Nations. This is the second time an El Camino team has represented California in the U.S. Academic Decathlon. The school placed fourth in the 1992 competition. |
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