RHS Academic Decathlon
The Academic Decathlon competition is composed of ten events. Each decathlete takes seven multiple choice tests in the subjects of Art, Economics, Music, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science. In addition, each decathlete gives a planned 4-minute speech and a 2-minute impromptu speech, participates in a 7-minute interview, and is given 50 minutes to write an expository essay.
An Academic Decathlon team may have up to nine members. The team is divided into three categories with up to three students per category. The three categories are based upon a student’s GPA in academic subjects. The three categories are:
- Honors GPA : 4.00 - 3.80
- Scholastic GPA : 3.79 - 3.20
- Varsity GPA - 3.20 - 0.00
The U.S. Academic Decathlon theme for 2023–2024 was Technology and Humanity. The following is some general information on the topics in each of the subject areas.
- Art: The art curriculum explored technology and the arts.
- Economics: The economics curriculum covered fundamental economic concepts, microeconomics, and macroeconomics and included a thematic section on technology, innovation, and the economy.
- Literature: The literature curriculum included critical reading, one long work of literature, and selected shorter works. The long work of literature was The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin.
- Mathematics: The mathematics curriculum covered general mathematics, geometry, and an introduction to differential calculus.
- Music: The music curriculum explored musical works used in science-fiction films.
- Science: The science topic was an introduction to neuroscience and included a section on technology and neuroscience.
- Social Science: The social science topic explored the history of computers.
The Academic Decathlon team, as well as all other academic competition teams, should be viewed as just that – a team. And as such, success is based upon hard work and a time commitment to the program. Because of this, it is also one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences one can undertake while in high school.
