On Feb. 4, the Academic Decathlon team participated in a ‘Super Quiz’ held at the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center on this year’s theme of The American Revolution and the New Nation. “[It is the] last part of the academic decathlon journey and I have to say that I can’t wait for it to be over!,” Ashle Sanchez, a junior, said. The team had a series of questions given to them to answer correctly for points, with an audience there to watch the school teams compete against each other. 

The preparation that went into the super quiz was done through the hard work and dedication of the members. “The most difficult part of practicing is that there is simply so much to do. You can’t really remember everything so it’s better to remember key concepts and hope it gets you far,” Sanchez said. 

Thoughts on how the team would do before the super quiz took place were varied. “The impromptu speeches are fine since we are given a topic, but my prepared speech is a little different since I still have some problems remembering it,” Osvaldo Orozco, a junior, said.

Acadeca is an elective class where the nine team members study for the competitions given to them over the course of the year. “There was one time during a scrimmage that took place somewhere near LA, and there we met some new academic decathletes. I believe that was the highlight because we were able to interact with others and, overall, they seemed like really nice people!,” Sanchez said. Some acadeca members decided to join the team after encouragement from people around them. “I joined because Ms. Cotta said I would be a good fit for it,” Orozco said. 

The academic decathlon reportedly gives participants a new and different experience. “I think even though at times it was a very challenging and rigorous class, I would say the class was overall an interesting and fun experience,” Carola Martinez, a junior, said. 

Results from the super quiz placed the team in 5th place with 23,000 points, behind other schools such as Bell and San Pedro High School. “I would just like to thank my coach and teacher Ms. Cotta for always being there for my class and always trying her best for us. Even when sometimes we were a bit difficult, she pushed through and got us to where we are today,” Martinez said.