St. Francis Places First in Academic Decathlon

Editor's Note: The following information was submitted by St. Francis High School Spokesman Andrew Burghdorf.

This past Saturday, the Academic Decathlon Team placed first at the Southern California Private Schools Academic Decathlon (SCPAD) Competition held at Alemany High School.

Months of dedication and hard work prepared the team well for the two days of challenging competition. Day one of the contest, which took place on Jan. 28, consisted of the subjective tests, essay, speech and interview. Day two, which took place on Feb. 4, consisted of the objective tests, including the oral super quiz, and concluded with a team dinner, awards ceremony and celebration.

At the end of the night, the efforts of the young men from St. Francis and their coach, Dirk Dierking, were rewarded with a first-place finish. Most importantly, the experience taught each student an important lesson about hard work and helped strengthen the spirit of brotherhood between the young men.

The success of the St. Francis Academic Decathlon Team this past weekend allows the team to move on to compete in the California Academic Decathlon State Championship in Sacramento tentatively scheduled for March 15-18.

The St. Francis High School community is proud of the accomplishments of the Academic Decathlon Team and excited about supporting the young men as they advance to the state competition.