MANSFIELD Northern Burlington County Regional High School’s academic decathlon team is hitting the books as it prepares to face stiff competition in the state finals at Farleigh Dickinson University this month.
By:David Koch
The decathlon team beat nine other southern New Jersey schools in its division, qualifying it to compete with the best decathlon teams in the state at FDU on March 17. Northern finished in first place which enables it to go to the finals for the eighth year in a row.
Teacher Susan Kearney, who has coached the academic decathlon team for the past nine years, said she was proud and "very pleased" with the team’s recent victory.
Northern Burlington Senior John Moscatiell received the MVP pick from his team for having the highest amount of points. He scored more points than any player in the South Jersey League. Fellow teammate James Laurenti, a junior, had the second highest point score in the League.
"It’s a really wonderful thing when a group of kids come together and accomplish something," said John.
John has been in the decathlon league since he was a freshman. He said the experience has made him more comfortable with people and given him knowledge that he would not have learned in the classroom.
The decathlon is organized by the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD), which began in 1985.
"There is a curriculum, and every year this curriculum changes," said Ms. Kearney. The 2000-1 season’s topic from the USAD was "Understanding the Self."
Each team is made up of seven members and three alternates. The decathlon event is an all-day competition. It begins with each team member writing an essay on a given topic. Then, members take tests on six subjects: math, science, economics, art, music, and language and literature.
Team members also have to take an interview and give an impromptu and prepared speech.
Ms. Kearney prepares for the impromptu speeches by having team members practice speech topics from previous years.
The final round in the competition is a super quiz. The super quiz is like a relay, where every team member is asked a total of 30 questions. This year’s super quiz topic is "Concepts of the Self: Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion."
Northern expects to facestiff competition in the state finals, but the students are ready.
"The main reason they (students) do this is for enrichment," Ms. Kearney said. "I think kids have to be interested in learning outside of the classroom to do this."
