Venice High Academic Decathlon Team Places 39th

Top students from Venice High School tested their knowledge of facts and figures against their counterparts at 59 other schools across the state last weekend, during the Academic Decathlon State Championship.

Venice High School scored 39th of the 60 schools competing. Seven high schools from the Los Angeles Unified School District scored in the top 10.

The overall winner was Granada Hills Charter High School.

Venice High School Academic Decathlon coach David Howell said the team was doing “medium well” in the competition as of Sunday.

“I’m proud of the effort that they’ve put forth,” Howell said.

Venice junior Zakir Gowani said the team did “a lot better than we thought we would.”

“I think we really retained the material,” Gowani said.

Gowani said he enjoys the Academic Decathlon because the information studied for competitions helps him succeed in school. Many of the facts he learned for the competition were useful in his geology class, he said.

“I like the science part because the facts help you in other classes,” Gowani said.

On Sunday, Venice High competed against 59 other teams from across the state in the Super Quiz competition, which was open to the public. Audience members, teachers and team members cheered on competitors as they answered questions seemingly beyond the scope of a high school education.

Questions were very difficult and encompassed a variety of subjects, including social science, English literature, economics and science.

Sample questions included: “If the concentration of carbon dioxide is only 380 parts per million, it is much less than 1 percent of the atmosphere. How can it contribute to global warming?” and “What process of the rock cycle leads to the weathering and erosion of all types of rock?”

In the Super Quiz, three students from each team are seated in a row front to back so that they cannot see the answers scribbled by other students on small whiteboards. Two proctors face each group of students to ensure they do not communicate. When the host asks a question, students quickly scribble their answers and then hold up their pens signaling they have stopped work.

Anticipation built as the auditorium alternated between complete silence when the contestants answered questions and loud cheering after each round.

Venice placed 39th in the Super Quiz, as well as the overall competition. Team scores from the Super Quiz are averaged together with scores from the other events to arrive at the overall score.

Students from Venice High returned home after an awards reception Monday.