OCM BOCES Sponsoring NYS Academic Decathlon Section III Competition at Westhill High School –Saturday, January 25, 2014

On Saturday, January 25, 2014, approximately 70-80 students from the Cazenovia, Liverpool, North Syracuse, Tully, West Genesee and Westhill school districts will compete in the 2014 New York State Academic Decathlon (USAD) Section III Competition at Westhill High School (4501 Onondaga Boulevard) in Syracuse.

The theme of this year’s event is World War I. The Decathlon will begin at 8:30 AM, with students engaging in a series of paper and pencil tests through 1:00 PM. At 1:40PM, the “Super Quiz” (oral relay) portion of the Decathlon will commence, with students responding to questions in front of an audience. The Awards Ceremony will be held following the Super Quiz.

The three highest scoring teams will advance to the New York State Competition on Feb 28-March 1 at SUNY Brockport. The state winner will go on to represent New York State at the national USAD competition, which is scheduled for April 24-26 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Since it began as a local academic competition in California in 1968, the United State Academic Decathlon has grown to become an international event. The local Academic Decathlon is coordinated by the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES. Students in ninth through twelfth grades will comprise district teams of three “A” students (Honors), three “B” students (Scholastic), and three “C” students (Varsity). The Academic Decathlon promotes well roundedness by providing competition for each team in several events.  The students will take objective tests in art, music, language and literature, science, social science, mathematics, and economics. They will also participate in a “Super Quiz”, team oral relay conducted before an audience.

For more information about the 2014 sectional level Academic Decathlon at Westhill High School, call Elaina Renfrew, OCM BOCES’ Coordinator of Educational Services and Academic Decathlon Sectional Coordinator, at 315/431-8598.

Participants and coaches are:

Cazenovia – Coaches: Barb Axelson and Ben Wightman
Contestants: Danielle Axelson, Remi Boissonnas, Katherine Boone, Emma Dudley, Brock Houghton, Riley Lloyd, Robert Louis, Joseph Mevec, Piper McKinnon
Alternates: Chase Matteson and Lars Ohlsen

Cicero-North Syracuse – Coach: Matt Harbinger
Contestants: Hayley Bermel, Craig Blume, Demitri Dana, Paul Dehm, Meghan Geary, Caitlin Hernandez, Elena Iaconis, Jacob Mekker and Julie Osborne
Alternates: Zachary Allard, Sierra Ciciarelli, Graham Dittler, Brian Emigohls, Ian Loy, Zachary Winnewisser and Sarah Ziobro

Liverpool – Coach: Daryl Burrer
Contestants: Ziad Abougoash, Garrett Clarke, Matthew Collins, Austin Fedor, Cassandra LaGrange, Shuting “Susie” Lu, Jason Mai, Kazmira Pitzrick and Ronald Wilson
Alternates: Grace Traino, Thomas Williams, Justin Wiszniewski and Eugeen Yoon

Tully – Coaches: Kim Cameron and Pat Votra
Contestants: Peter Barletta, Marshal Clemens, Elsa Gauss, Kurt Gauss, Julie Kunnumpurath, Sarah Reppenhagen, Katie Warner and Matthew Wood
Alternates: Megan Hafler, Kiara Lee, Brendan McGinn, Cassidy McGinn and Bradley Phelps

West Genesee – Coach: Scott Duda
Contestants: Jared Bivens, Callie Campbell, Luke Faulkner, Nathan Gillette, James Hickey, Evan Janes­Rouse, John Lisi, Nicholas Serrao and Vadim Shakhov
Alternates: Dylan Casolare, Rachel Gdula, Jenna Hickey, William Krueger, Joshua Mattice, Megan Petty, Matthew Romano and Eric Wolfe

Westhill – Coach: Sarah Fleming
Contestants: Stephen Burgay, Aidan Kelly, Elizabeth Meluni, Nathan Mevec, Aden Orzell, Madeline Pierce, Jordan Roach, Jennifer Root and Anastasija Useva
Alternates: Kaitlin Cash and Molly Spinek