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Home > Archive > Mar 22, 2007

Lions Club and DSC Commit to Renew Academic Decathlon in Washington County
By Cami Cox
Staff Writer
Dixie State College traditionally has hosted the annual Academic Decathlon for the entire state of Utah. High school students from all over the state come to Dixie to compete in 10 categories: art, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, mathematics, music, science, social science, and speech. Statewide winners go on to compete in the national Academic Decathlon, which this year will take place in Honolulu, and scholarship money is awarded to national winners. Twelve Utah schools will compete at this year's state decathlon, which took place March 8 and 9 at Dixie State College. But although the competition was hosted in St. George, no local schools were represented at this year's event.
“Dixie High School used to be a power team, and they'd won the state a couple of times and went on back to nationals,” state Academic Decathlon director Ed Rogers said. “Dixie High School was the last (local) team that competed, and they haven't competed the last two years.”
Rogers said budget cuts a few years ago nixed funding for the Academic Decathlon teams in both the Washington and Iron County School Districts, and the competing schools have since dropped their teams. Since local schools are no longer competing in the decathlon, some discussion took place about discontinuing use of Dixie State as the host school. But the college and the St. George Lions Club are attempting to rejuvenate local interest in the Academic Decathlon competition by flashing a little green.
“The Lions Club has committed to give each of our local St. George high schools (Dixie, Snow Canyon, and Pine View) $1,000 towards an academic decathlon team and program, if the school district will match the $1,000 to build the program within our local schools again,” Rogers said. “The college has also committed probably close to $20,000 in scholarship offers to Academic Decathlon winners.”
He said negotiations with the school district about the Lions Club offer are currently in the works – the district has neither agreed nor disagreed to match the funds. Rogers said the offered monies are intended to help renew Academic Decathlon fervor throughout the district, and that's what he hopes will happen.
“We need to find coaches and help get the excitement built once again in the local schools,” he said.
If the schools do decided to reinstate their teams, an additional issue, apart from the funding shortages, is that teachers are needed at each school to coach the Academic Decathlon teams. Though the schools pay their coaches a stipend, Rogers said taking on a decathlon team is a big commitment. Currently, Hurricane High is the only school with an Academic Decathlon coach, even though the school wasn't competing this year. But Rogers said he thinks chances are good that Hurricane will participate in next year's decathlon, and that will be a positive step toward reactivating decathlon teams throughout Washington County.
Rogers said each Academic Decathlon team is composed of nine students. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors are all eligible to compete, and each team is made up of three “A” students, three “B” students, and three students with a “C” average or lower.
“This provides an opportunity for all students to compete, not just ‘A’ students,” he said.
It's important for schools to be represented at the decathlon, he said, not only for the potential scholarship awards students can receive, but also because of the honor and prestige associated with the competition, which takes place in 39 other states across the nation.
“In many states, it's the elite academic competition in the state,” Rogers said.
He said parents and others can help reinstate Academic Decathlon teams in the local high schools by expressing their interest and support to high school administrators, school board members, and to the school district. Interested parties can also contribute financially to the overall Academic Decathlon event or to efforts at the individual high schools.

For more information about Academic Decathlon or to contribute, contact Ed Rogers at 435-652-7729.

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