From April 25 through April 27, the Scarborough High School Academic Decathlon team represented the State of Maine in the national United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) competition in Honolulu, Hawaii.  With 41,833.5 points, the Scarborough Academic Decathlon team landed fourth place in their division. In the Division 3 competition, private magnet schools from Tennessee and Pennsylvania placed first and third, and a school from Utah took second place.
      This year’s themes were timely in a global way- China and Its Influence on the World and Science Super Quiz-Climatology.  Each of the decathletes from the Scarborough team was a "high scorer" in at least one math or science category, which earned them each a subscription to the Scientific American magazine.  The nine-member team included-  High Scoring Economics: Matthew Coulliard and Nolan Scheemaker, High Scoring Mathematics: Matthew Sirocki, Kenton Whipple and Alexander Whittemore, and High Scoring Science Super Quiz: Caterina MacLean, Saerim Park, Jonathan Russell and Matthew Schaefer.
      Jonathan Russell was the team’s overall highest scorer, and he brought home two bronze medals. Jon placed third nationally in the categories of Chinese Music and Super Quiz-Climatology even against schools in higher in divisions.  Matt Schaefer brought home a Gold Medal as the highest scoring Division 3 “Varsity” student.  This awarded him a $1,000.00 scholarship for the second year in a row.
      When one thinks of a decathlete, it conjures sports to mind, but USAD usad.org is the country’s premier scholastic competition.   USAD attracts the nation’s top scholars to compete in ten academic arenas. The categories evolve around a central theme and include: Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science, Social Science, and Speech/Impromptu. This program is unusual in that it includes and motivates students that one may not typically think of as "academic". This is not a “straight A student” team.  To qualify, the team must consist of at least three "C" students and no more than three "A" students.  USAD was founded in 1981.
      Scarborough High School’s team competed against schools that not only offer AD as a class during the school day, but some schools also supplement the learning with related excursions. For example, some teams travel to art museums to study the original pieces of art.  Well-endowed teams arrive at the national competition with matching uniforms and extra coaches that specialize in certain areas of competition to continue the coaching process during the intense cramming prior to the event.
       Scarborough’s team has historically done very well academically at both the state and the national level.  The State of Maine has been involved with USAD since 1985, and Scarborough High School has won the state title eighteen of the last twenty- two years. The Scarborough High School Academic Decathlon team also holds the claim to the only student in the history of USAD to achieve a perfect score in the Super Quiz category.  Many other Scarborough students have also received accolades at the national level.  The Scarborough team’s strength is their ability to work independently, their willingness to commit their own free time, their cohesive team spirit and the wonderful support they receive from their families, coaches and community.
      The team’s coaches this year are Shane Davis and Jon York.  Looking ahead to next year, the AD team welcomes all interested students.  Sign-ups will be announced in May.   Next year's 2007-2008 overall theme is The Civil War and the Science category is Infectious Diseases.  Next year’s national competition location will be Garden Grove, California.  For more information, please contact Coach Davis at mdavis@scarborough.k12.me.us.