On Feb. 28, the Scarborough High School Academic Decathlon Team members were crowned the Maine State Academic Decathlon Champions and retained the coveted Super Quiz Bowl. The decathletes are honored to be traveling to Memphis, Tenn., to represent Maine at the United States Academic Decathlon National Championship (www.usad.org) from April 22 to April 25.  

The nine-member powerhouse includes Seth Albert, Lisa Bryant, Matthew Couillard, Craig Delisle, Caterina MacLean, Rebecca Mitchell, Susan Rundell, Alexander Sirocki and Jacob Wakem. Faculty advisors are Shane Davis and Jonathan York. Each high school enters a team of nine students: three “A” or honor students, three “B” or scholastic students, and three “C” or varsity students. Five members of this year’s team had never even competed as alternates before; this would be equivalent to selecting incoming freshman for the varsity basketball team and winning the state championship. The team was awarded a total of 31 medals.

The Scarborough team has now won 20 of the 24 state titles. The team won the state meet with 39,347 points. Not only did Scarborough retain the Super Quiz crown (3,000 points) and the state title, but they also secured five of the top nine highest individual positions. The overall top scorer was senior Caterina MacLean with 7,918 points. Of the three student categories, all three were from Scarborough: “honor” student Caterina MacLean, “scholastic” student Matthew Couillard, and “varsity” student Craig Delisle were the gold medalists. 

The event tests students in 10 areas: speech, interview, essay, language and literature, art, music, economics, math, and social sciences, culminating with the final event: “Super Quiz.” This year’s themes were “Latin America” and in honor of the 200^th birthday of Charles Darwin, the science theme was  “Evolutionary Biology.” This was Joe Cupo’s third year volunteering to serve as the Super Quiz moderator. The Super Quiz event, a fast-paced Jeopardy style test, tops off the all-day competition. 

I thank the Scarborough school department and the taxpaying Scarborough residents for supporting this most amazing extracurricular program. One would be hard pressed to find any other program that spans so many areas in such depth and breadth.  

It takes unusual teachers to coach the decathletes. In addition to their own teaching jobs and busy lives, Coach Shane Davis and Coach Jon York have put in an incredible number of hours with the yearlong weekly practice sessions and special study groups, and they deserve special recognition.  

 We have found many community members asking how they can help the team. Fundraising, while continuing with an intense study schedule, is a daunting task, and this year we are seeking support from the community. The team will host a yard sale on Saturday, June 21, and there is an on-going CLYNK! bottle drive. If you’d like to help the team reach their $10,000 goal, they are also accepting tax-deductible donations - no amount is too small. Donations may be made payable to the “Scarborough High School AD Team” and mailed to: Coach Davis c/o Scarborough High School, 11 Municipal Dr., Scarborough, ME 04074. For more information, please contact: Bethany Whittemore 883-1609 or Heather Sirocki hsirocki@maine.rr.com, 883-5609

On behalf of the Scarborough High School decathletes, we truly thank you for your support of this worthwhile academic endeavor.   

Heather Sirocki

Scarborough