Talkeetna-area students shine in Academic Decathlon competition

March 15, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - After immersing themselves in ancient civilizations for nearly seven months, 16 Su Valley High School students competed at the statewide Academic Decathlon competition earlier this month in Anchorage. One of the two Su Valley teams took home third place for division 3A schools, while the other team finished 14th out of 26 teams overall.

The students worked together since the first day of school, putting in 10 to 12 hours a week, while studying a wide range of subjects that all tied back to the theme of ancient Roman, Greek and Egyptian civilizations. Along the way, students delved into social studies, economics, music, art, literature, essay-writing and even astronomy.

This year marked the 17th year that Su Valley social studies teacher Dave Stull has coached an Academic Decathlon team. After coaching in Idaho, Washington and Alaska, he said his latest Su Valley team was very strong and should only get better next year.

"I've already got about 24 kids signed up for next year, which is about one quarter of our entire school," Stull said. "We don't rebuild teams around here, we just reload."

This year's team missed the top spot for 3A schools by a mere 1,500 points out of a possible 60,000.

Su Valley offers Academic Decathlon as a half-credit social studies elective each year but Stull said the class benefits go far beyond the classroom.

"It's a real opportunity for kids who may not shine in an athletic event to get their day in the sun," he said. "It's also an opportunity to go after scholarships and awards."

This year, three Su Valley students were awarded scholarships, but Stull said just being on the team improves students' study skills and teaches them how to organize information and pick out what is most important.

Stull said it's not uncommon to see kids raise their grade-point averages by a half letter grade in the course of a couple of years being on the team.

During the state competition, each student had to give a public speech and be interviewed, which Stull said helps in dealing with prospective employers later on in life. The material students cover is distributed through the national Academic Decathlon headquarters and ranges from high-level high school to college freshman-level quality.

"They spend an incredible amount of study time in class and probably triple that out of class, but it gives them a lot of self confidence," Stull said. "And they learn how to think on their feet."

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.