Johnston Academic Decathlon wins regional championship
JOHNSTON, Ia. (Jan. 28, 2024) — Johnston’s Academic Decathlon had a stellar showing at the Regional tournament on January 25 and 26, taking home a total of 40 individual ribbons, four Overall Individual awards, and the Regional championship. It was a wonderful two days!
Academic Decathlon is a contest requiring each student to give a speech, be interviewed and take tests in math, science, history, economics, music history, literature and art history. The Johnston team is coached by JHS teacher Sue Cline.
This year’s theme was Technology and Humanity, covering six different fields of study. Students learned about innovations in art since the Romans, music from science fiction films of the 20th and 21st century, the history of computer science, role of innovation in the field of economics, the development of neuroscience, and the development of science fiction in literature.
The math curriculum covered geometry and introductory calculus. Then, students also gave a speech and were interviewed. It’s a jam-packed two days of competition, and each student generally finds a field of two they really enjoy preparing.
The first team scored 27,749.2 points, taking the championship. We field two additional partial teams and also take alternates with us to the competition. Below are students who participated and their awards. Students whose names contain an * will be on our state competition team in Cedar Rapids on March 1 and 2.
Johnston Academic Decathlon Results
| Team 1 | Team 2 (partial team) | Team 3 (partial team) |
| HONORS: *Peyton Brown (12): Gold overall in Honors. 1st: Economics, Speech, Interview. 2nd: Music.3rd: Art, Social Science.
*Ben Cramer (12): Silver overall in Honors. 3rd: Science *Joe Cramer(12): 2nd: Literature |
HONORS: Alan Qi (10): 1st: Math. 2nd: Social Science.
*Sophie Wall (11): Bronze Overall in Honors. 1st: Music, Science. 2nd: Art. Caroline Throener (12): 3rd: Economics, Speech. |
HONORS: Jax Stocker(11): 2nd: Interview
Matthew Kathman (9) Arthur Chen (11): 1st: Art. 2nd: Math. |
| SCHOLASTIC: *Reagan Zierke (12): 1st: Music.2nd: Literature. 3rd: Math
*Jackson Lansink (12): Bronze overall in Scholastic. 1st: Economics. 2nd: Math, Science. 3rd: Music, Literature. Eduardo Melero (12) |
SCHOLASTIC: *Dima Al-Qasi (12): 3rd: Social Science, Speech.
Alex Emheiser (9) |
SCHOLASTIC: *Sahasra Dendi (11): 1st: Interview |
| VARSITY: *Laura Thangi (12): Gold overall in Varsity. 1st: Speech, Interview. 2nd: Social Science.
*Syd Dennis(12): 1st: Literature, Social Science. *Nick Bales (12): 1st: Art , Economics. 2nd: Music. |
VARSITY: Lili Verzani( 11): 2nd: Music
Raz Sizer (11): 3rd: Economics |
|
Alternates
HONORS: Wyatt Brown (12): 3rd: Math
Aaron Cheatham (12): 2nd: Economics
Ava Thornton (12): 1st: Literature