North Penn To Host State Academic Decathlon

LANSDALE, PA -- The best academic decathletes from across Pennsylvania will be at North Penn this weekend for the state championships.

Around 15 schools will participate in the Pennsylvania Academic Decathlon State Competition, slated to begin Friday, March 3, and Saturday, March 4.

The winning team will represent Pennsylvania at the United Stated Academic Decathlon Finals in April in Madison, Wisconsin.

North Penn has won the event eight times, including 2013, 2014, and 2015, according to the school district. They placed second in 2016.

Teams compete in a series of ten events measuring academic strengths, including written tests in Literature, Mathematics, Art, Music, Social Science, Economics and Science. Students must write an essay, be interviewed by a panel of judges, and give a four-minute prepared speech and a two-minute impromptu speech, according to the rulebook. Each member of the team competes in the “Super Quiz,” a public sample of the Academic Decathlon.

Each team is comprised of nine members. For North Penn, the following students are competing: Yang Yue, Connie Jiang, and Brittany Wylie at the Honors level; Matt Orefice and Alex Goldberg at the Scholastics level; and Justin Orefice, Nathaniel Maier and Dan Sibel at the Varsity level.

Social studies teacher Nancy Craig and special education assistant Lisa Tyree are the coaches.

Image courtesy North Penn