Academics in action
CHERRY TWP — Moniteau High School will for the first time host the PA Academic Decathlon Championship March 6 and 7.
Moniteau placed second in the small schools division at the northwest regional competition Feb. 6 to 7 at Edinboro (Pa.) University. Team leader Jeremy Borkowski, a teacher, asked if Moniteau could host the state competition.
Borkowski is in his second year of both teaching the gifted program and leading the school's Academic Decathlon team.
Out of the 16 Pennsylvania schools that will be in the state championship, Slippery Rock High will be the only other Butler County school competing. Schools were chosen based on how they placed among their divisions in the regional competition.
The decathlon theme this year included evolutionary biology and Latin American history.
Preparing for the regional competition was "a lot of hard work," said Tim Shearer, a Moniteau freshman. This is his first year competing in the decathlon.
Clarissa Kimmey, also a freshman, said, "We think this is one of our best chances (to go to the national competition)."
The gifted class prepares year-round for the decathlon by meeting every weekday during a 40-minute class period plus two hours after school at least three days per week and sometimes on weekends. The time spent is "an atmosphere to promote studying," said Borkowski. He is available to help the students with questions about their study packets. Members even meet in the summer to prepare for the next competition.
The United States Academic Decathlon each year chooses a theme for the decathlon and provides schools with study material packets.
"This program dovetails into what we do in the classroom," said Maynard Harvey, high school principal. "I was really proud of how we presented ourselves (at the regional competition)."
As part of preparations, students were required to read "Bless Me, Ultima"
by Rudolfo Anaya, a novel about a boy growing up in the Latin American culture. As a bonus, students were able to interview the author by telephone."They were just blown away," Borkowski said.Competing Moniteau students are freshmen Kimmey and Shearer; sophomores Sarah Miller and John Klecha; juniors Luke Osborne and Nathan Moore, and seniors Mike Unger, Kyle Hepner and Zak Franiewski.Franiewski was ranked sixth in the state after two rounds nationwide. After the third round, he is now ranked 17th in the nation in the decathlon.Competition will include testing from noon to 5 p.m. March 6 followed by a speech and interview section.March 7 events will include a Superquiz at 11 a.m. followed by an awards ceremony at 1 p.m.The national competition will be conducted in April in Memphis.
