Mikaela Rabizadeh opinion editor
The Academic Decathlon team, more commonly referred to as AcaDeca, is looking to recruit fresh faces to its program for the 2018-19 school year competition season. After having a fairly small team of eight students, AcaDeca wishes to expand its team next year.
Next year’s co-captain junior Nellie Soames recommends AcaDeca for students who want to make new friends or ease the transition into high school. She feels the program is academically beneficial and can teach skills that can be helpful over many subject areas.
“We are really excited to maximize our potential for this year,” Soames said. “It’s a great way for students to transition into high school because it provides you with so many friends, teaches you how to study for classes and gets you ready for college.”
As they compete in 10 test categories ranging from art to economics, AcaDeca is looking for a diverse group of students with strengths across the board in any subject. Students can either choose to take the AcaDeca class or only participate in competitions; those who take the class receive honors credit.
“We’re looking for anyone from any grade, any GPA. And what it does is it helps a lot with college applications and even just with regular class coursework.  We learn a lot of information that applies to a lot of other classes, and people here are always willing to help,” co-captain junior Daniel Wiener said.
Each year AcaDeca focuses on a specific theme which constitutes the curriculum they are expected to master for competition. This coming school year, the theme will be the 1960s, from hippie culture to musical legends of the decade. The information will be specifically relevant for incoming juniors who will be studying major events of the 60s such as the Civil Rights Movement.
“It’s really going to be interesting, especially the music, because it’s going to feature all the famous singers like the Beatles and the Beach Boys,” Soames said. “It’s also really great for incoming juniors who are taking APUSH or regular history because you get to learn a lot about U.S. History.”
AcaDeca is flexible and understanding of students’ other obligations and extracurriculars.  Participating in AcaDeca offers students with the opportunity to boost their academic resumes while making friends in the process.
“It’s been the best of my high school career,” Soames said. “I’ve made so many lifelong friends in AcaDeca.”
Students interested in joining can contact Roel Hinojosa at [email protected].