Courtesy of VHS Staff – The VHS Academic Decathlon team traveled to State this past week and competed against schools from around the state in 10 individual competitive areas, culminating in a live Super Quiz event where they squared up against other teams on stage in front of an audience. Our week was punctuated by the best speech and interview event our team has ever had, with the majority of the team not only feeling good about their performance but earning strong scores and bringing home several medals in these events as well. Valdez the past two years has done very well in the Super Quiz event, but this year our reigning title slipped through our grasp, so we have some motivation to come back and reclaim it next year.
Our team brought home 32 individual medals this year, and we ended the competition coming in 2nd in our division, hot on the heels of Hutchison who took 1st place. It was a tough competition and the small schools division has grown bigger this year, with other small schools competing with full teams as well. Craig put in an awesome showing as well and came in 3rd. We competed against Hutchison, Craig, Lower Yukon School, Bering Strait, Delta, and Monroe. Our team was also awarded the Fleetwood Achievement Award for having the greatest overall score increase from last year to this year.
Overall, our team performed very well and this coach is grateful for the hard work of these students and their families who invest in their academic pursuits. Our seniors Will Crater, Kassidy Ferguson, and Joie Sheldon ended their run of Acadeca on a wonderfully high note. Joie joined us this year and participated as a team alternate, bringing home top scoring medals for Art and Science and earning a bronze in Literature. Will medaled in 8 out of 10 events, and Kassidy medaled in 9 out of 10 events, and she also earned a $1,500 Alaska 529 scholarship for being the 3rd top Varsity performer out of all other students in her category. Of the 9 students we brought to compete at state, we had 3 newcomers. Sawyer Stites, Nevaeh Meyer, and Josephine Sheldon all performed admirably, Sawyer as our second team alternate gave a strong showing in Art, Econ and Interview, and Nevaeh brought home four medals, which is amazing for a first year team member! Medals were also earned by Aysiri Shiujones, Ava Mitchell, and Jezelle Eskilida. Jenna and Oliver are returning Honors teammates, who put forth valiant efforts to bring home solid scores on all testing areas, falling just shy of medals but contributing to our overall success in the 2nd place finish. Oliver was our 3rd highest scoring team member, just after Kassidy. All in all, strong work and I am proud of everyone’s accomplishments!
Team makeup:
Honors – Oliver Ownbey, Erik Vincent, Jenna Wadsworth, Joie Sheldon (alternate)
Scholastic – Aysiri Shiujones, Ava Mitchell, Jezelle Eskilida, Sawyer Stites (alternate)
Varsity – Kassidy Ferguson, Will Crater, Nevaeh Meyer
Special thanks to our awesome Team Chaperones, Matt Wadsworth and Jessa Comer!
Total medals earned: A whopping 32, plus an additional 2 per student for the Fleetwood Achievement and 2nd place Division II.
Medals and Awards
Alaska 529 Top Scoring Student Scholarship Recipient: Kassidy Ferguson
Top Scoring Team Member for Valdez: Erik Vincent
Varsity Medals:
Kassidy Ferguson – Economics (GOLD), Science (SILVER), Literature (GOLD), Music (GOLD), Math (GOLD), Art (SILVER), Social Science (BRONZE), Speech (GOLD), Interview (SILVER), Overall Varsity (BRONZE)
Will Crater – Mathematics (SILVER), Economics (BRONZE), Science (GOLD), Literature
(BRONZE), Art (BRONZE), Music (SILVER), Social Science (GOLD), Essay (BRONZE)
Nevaeh Meyer – Science (BRONZE), Art (GOLD), Social Science (BRONZE), Essay (GOLD)
Scholastic Medals:
Aysiri Shiujones – Math (GOLD)
Ava Mitchell – Music (BRONZE), Social Science (SILVER), Interview (BRONZE)
Jezelle Eskilida – Interview (GOLD)
Honors Medals:
Erik Vincent – Math (SILVER), Speech (SILVER), Music (GOLD), Social Science (BRONZE)