Austin Prep academic team wins first round

Austin Preparatory School's Academic Decathlon team won Round 1 of the recent Small Schools Championship at Franklin High School.

Moderators Ed MacKenzie (history faculty and class of 1999) and Kayla Greenwood (theology faculty) said they are very proud of their competition team: seniors Pedro Castro, Mattheus Nascimento , Jared Perrone ; juniors Thomas Burnham, Bryan Snow; and sophomores Spencer Casey, Casey Chabra, Cole Kamelle, James Moro, Jose Munoz, Sana Nadkarni, and Ethan Tilley.

During the decathlon, students took seven subjective tests. The Small Schools Regional competition also included the three subjective events of speech, interview, and essay, making it a true academic decathlon. The testing happened at a particularly rapid pace, with students working practically nonstop for four hours in completing seven 30-minute written exams. For the team to achieve such success under those difficult conditions is truly an impressive accomplishment.

In addition to the team championship, students won individual medals:

• Thomas Burnham: Silver in Economics and History
• Pedro Castro: Gold in Music
• Cole Kamelle: Bronze in History
• James Moro: Silver in Science, Bronze in Literature, Bronze Overall in Varsity Division
• Bryan Snow: Gold in History, Silver in Economics, Bronze in Music, 4th Overall in Scholastic Division

Two students did especially well, winning the overall gold medals in their respective divisions and taking home what can only be described as a heap of medals.

• In the Honors Division, Sana Nadkarni medaled in every category except Math on her way to the Overall Gold. She took Gold in Economics and Music, Silver in Art, and Bronze in Literature, History, and Science.
• In the Varsity Division, Jared Perrone did something that no Austin Prep student has done in at least a decade, winning individual medals in all seven of the events held. He took Gold in Music, Economics, Literature, and History, Silver in Art and Science and Bronze in Math.

The team's next competition will be the Small Schools Regional Championships at Quincy High School on Saturday, February 4, 2017.