Granada Hills Charter High School has won the United States Academic Decathlon Championship for an eighth time.
The Highlanders team scored 52,656.7 points out of a possible 60,0000 to best Highland Park High School in Texas, which finished second. Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Illinois placed third.
The theme of this year’s decathlon was “The Cold War,” requiring students to study subjects within that context. Students compete in seven subject areas including science, literature, art, music, social science, economics and mathematics.
Topics included the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union, music from the era and a focus on Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. The competition included multiple-choice exams in each subject, as well as essays, interviews and speeches.
The Highlander’s winning team included i Dwaipayan Chanda, Eunice Choi, Joshua Choi, Rachel Heo (alternate), Chloe Hyun, Aroa Kim (alternate), Justin Kim, Hirusha Liyanage, Anthony Mercado (alternate), Jasdeep Sidhu, and Zorex Villadelgado, Jr. The students were coached by Alina Lee, Linda Kang and Amy Contreras.
The competition was held online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.