SCHOLARS TO SQUARE OFF DECATHLON CHALLENGES HIGH SCHOOL MINDS TO EXCEL.Byline: Peggy Hager and Karen Maeshiro Staff Writers LANCASTER - Four teams of Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley teen-agers will pit their brainpower brain·pow·er n. 1. Intellectual capacity. 2. People of well-developed mental abilities: a country that doesn't value its brainpower. Noun 1. today against dozens of teams from other 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. County high schools. Lancaster, Palmdale, Highland and Quartz Hill high schools Quartz Hill High School is a public, co-educational high school located in Lancaster, California. Founded in 1964, it is the third oldest comprehensive high school in the Antelope Valley High School District (AVHSD). are competing today in the county'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. 2001 at Torrance High Schoo. ``Even the experience itself is rewarding because of the competition and meeting different people,'' said Katrina Mumaw, a senior and member of Lancaster High School's team. ``It's just a different environment from what we're used to.'' Students representing 52 public high schools will try to outsmart out·smart tr.v. out·smart·ed, out·smart·ing, out·smarts To gain the advantage over by cunning; outwit. outsmart Verb Informal same as outwit Verb 1. each other in a 10-event competition that calls for analytical analytical, analytic pertaining to or emanating from analysis. analytical control control of confounding by analysis of the results of a trial or test. thinking, essay writing and public speaking. This year's decathlon theme is ``Concepts of Self,'' and students will be quizzed on the Mary Shelley novel ``Frankenstein.'' By contest rules, each team's nine members must have varying grade-point averages. Three can have GPAs of 3.75 and above, three must have GPAs between 3.0 and 3.75 and three must have GPAs below 3.0. One of the disadvantages faced by the Antelope Valley teams is that the teen-agers must practice on their own time. Many of the schools that annually do well at the decathlon offer a regular class during which their decathletes can prepare. But Palmdale High School's team, for example, has been meeting Wednesday evenings since September at the home of coach Matt Tassinari, a U.S. history teacher. ``They read the study guide, take practice tests, make practice speeches and discuss what's in the study guide,'' said Tassinari, who is in his sixth year as Palmdale's coach. Lancaster High School Lancaster High School may refer to:
At first, students got together a couple of times a week in Ennis' classroom during lunch, but since January they have been meeting almost every day. ``We started the club this past September. We started going heavy duty in December,'' said Rebecca Thompson, a Lancaster High senior. ``We feel confident, we want to do our best.'' The Lancaster High team includes two exchange students: Paul Ketting, from Rotterdam in The Netherlands, and Matthias Brockler from Germany. ``It's just a totally different experience, schools competing against each other,'' said Ketting, who added that Holland doesn't have anything like the Academic Decathlon. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Lancaster High School Academic Decathlon adviser Susan Ennis, right, rallies her team for today's competition. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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