Warrior Academic Decathlon: 2019 State Qualifiers!
Wahoo takes 3rd place team trophy @ State, with 19 individual medals; Noah Polacek earns top honors with superior performance in Scholastic division
The Warrior Academic Decathlon team ended its 2018-2019 season at the State Competition, held Feb. 15-16 at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Despite missing one team member due to illness, Wahoo made an impressive showing, bringing home the 3rd place team trophy, along with 19 individual medals!
Congratulations to the following 2019 State AcaDeca Medalists:
NOAH POLACEK (Wahoo's all-time top achiever!)
GOLD in Music
GOLD in Science
GOLD in Language & Literature
GOLD in Mathematics
SILVER in Art
SILVER in Economics
SILVER in Essay Competition
'TOP SCORER' of all small schools state-wide
[pictured clock-wise from upper left]
MICHAEL HOLMES (Varsity): SILVER in Science, BRONZE in Language & Literature, BRONZE in Music
ALEC GETTERT (Scholastic): SILVER in the Professional Interview Competition
TUCKER JANECEK (Varsity): BRONZE in Economics
MARSHALL ELDER (Varsity): BRONZE in the Essay Competition
BRETT WHITAKER (Alt. Honors): GOLD in Soft Sciences
ISAAC PRIVETT (Alt. Varsity): SILVER in Soft Sciences, BRONZE in Hard Sciences, Bronze in Fine Arts
Congratulations Warrior AcaDeca on an awesome season!
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Wahoo takes 2nd place among 7 regional competitions with 34 individual medals & Super Quiz State Championship!
American author Dave Barry recently stated that “The Sixties are now considered a historical period, just like the Roman Empire.”
The decade has been selected by the United States Academic Decathlon as its 2018-2019 topic of study, and the WHS AcaDeca class has been studying all aspects of the 1960s since the beginning of the school year . . . from the Presidency of John F. Kennedy to Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon, and everything in between!
The 2019 Nebraska Academic Decathlon Regional Competition was held on Saturday, January 20 on the campus of Midland University in Fremont. Individually, the Warriors brought home 39 individual medals. That includes a CHAMPIONSHIP in the annual Super Quiz (a team competition over the social studies curriculum)! Wahoo scored an impressive 24/30 in the challenging Super Quiz, followed by Mount Michael (2nd place with 22/30), and Roncalli Catholic (3rd place with 13/30).
The WHS Academic Decathlon Team has qualified for the 2019 State Competition, scheduled for Feb. 15-16 at the University of Nebraska at Omaha! The Warriors made an impressive showing at Regionals, placing 2nd place among all small school regional competitors across Nebraska, and brought home 39 individual medals, including a social studies Super Quiz Championship!
Wahoo's Super Quiz score was the highest in the state among all competing schools, small and large, a first for Warrior AcaDeca!
Congratulations to Warrior AcaDeca Super Quiz team: 2018-2019 Regional & State-wide CHAMPIONS! (from left: Michael Holmes, Tucker Janecek, Noah Polacek, Alec Gettert, Jackson Taylor, and Nick Fuller.
The Warrior performance of the day came from WHS senior Noah Polacek, who blew away the competition in the Scholastic category! Of the six written tests, Polacek took the Gold medal in five, and silver in one (missing gold by a single question).
Congratulations to the following AcaDeca members who earned individual medals at this year's Regional:
Regular Team:
NOAH POLACEK (Honors)
• Wahoo's Overall Top Scorer
• GOLD Language & Literature
• GOLD Art
• GOLD Music
• GOLD Mathematics
• GOLD Science
• SILVER Economics
NICK FULLER (Honors)
• BRONZE Science
MICHAEL HOLMES (Varsity)
• GOLD Music
• SILVER Economics
• BRONZE Language & Literature
• BRONZE Science
• BRONZE Mathematics
• BRONZE Art
TUCKER JANECEK (Varsity)
• GOLD Language & Literature
• SILVER Music
• SILVER Economics
Quiz Bowl Team (CHAMPIONS): NICK FULLER, ALEC GETTERT, MICHAEL HOLMES, TUCKER JANECEK, NOAH POLACEK, JACKSON TAYLOR
Alternate Team:
LUKE POLACEK (Alt. Honors)
• SILVER Mathematics
• BRONZE Language & Literature
• BRONZE Music
BRETT WHITAKER (Alt. Honors)
• BRONZE Science
• BRONZE Economics
ELI BRABEC (Alt. Scholastic)
• BRONZE Music
• BRONZE Mathematics
MARSHALL ELDER (Alt. Varsity)
• SILVER Science
• SILVER Mathematics
• SILVER Economics
• BRONZE Language & Literature
• BRONZE Art
ISAAC PRIVETT (Alt. Varsity)
• SILVER Music
• BRONZE Art
• BRONZE Science
• BRONZE Mathematics
As at team, Wahoo finished in 2nd place in the regional competition, and also placed 2nd among all small and very small schools from the seven regionals across the state!
Wahoo's performance has qualified them for the 2018 Nebraska Academic Decathlon State Finals, which will be held February 15-16 on the campus of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. At State, in addition to the seven academic areas, students will also compete in an essay competition, speech competition (prepared and impromptu), and a personal interview competition. This will be the Warriors' seventh State appearance, out of the nine years it has competed. Not too shabby!
"I am very proud of the team this year," commented WHS AcaDeca Coach Weston Sieck. "We improved our medal count from 11 total in 2018 to 34 this year! We achieved our goal of winning the Super Quiz by crushing the competition 24 to 22, and the next highest team scoring 13! It is also fantastic that we scored 2nd place in the state!"
In preparation for their regional competition (scheduled for Jan. 19 at Midland University), the Warrior team recently participated in two area scrimmages: Saturday, Nov. 3 at Pius X High School in Lincoln, and Saturday, Dec. 1 at Daniel Gross High School in Bellevue.
At the Pius scrimmage, students competed in the areas of Art, Language and Literature, and Mathematics, as well as a Super Quiz, covering the Social Studies curriculum.
Congratulations to the following Pius medalists:
Noah Polacek & Michael Holmes: GOLD in the Super Quiz
Noah Polacek (Scholastic): GOLD Mathematics, SILVER Language & Literature, Wahoo’s Top Scorer
Michael Holmes (Varsity): BRONZE Language & Literature, BRONZE Mathematics
Brett Whitaker (Novice): SILVER Art, SILVER Mathematics
Congratulations to Warrior AcaDeca students who medaled at the Nov. 3 Pius X Scrimmage (from left): Noah Polacek, Michael Holmes, and Brett Whitaker.
At the Gross scrimmage, students competed in the areas of Economics, Music, and Science, as well as a Social Studies Super Quiz.
Congratulations to the following Gross Medalists:
Team of Nick Fuller, Alec Gettert, Michael Holmes, Tucker Janecek, Noah Polacek & Jackson Taylor: 2nd Place in the Super Quiz
Noah Polacek (Scholastic): GOLD Science, GOLD Music, BRONZE Economics, Wahoo’s Top Scorer (HOLY BUCKETS!)
Marshall Elder (Varsity): BRONZE Science
Michael Holmes (Varsity): BRONZE Music
Mara Dobesh (Novice): SILVER Music
Tucker Janecek (Novice): BRONZE Economics
Congratulations to the following medalists at the Dec. 1 Academic Decathlon scrimmage at Daniel Gross High School (from left): Nick Fuller, Jackson Taylor, Alec Gettert, Marshall Elder, Tucker Janecek, Michael Holmes, Noah Polacek, and Mara Dobesh.
Academic Decathlon is a national, ten-event scholastic competition for teams of high school students. Each high school team consists of six students: two Honors students (“A” GPA), two Scholastic students (“B” GPA), and two Varsity students (“C” or below GPA). At State, teams are increased to three students per category.
The purpose of the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) is to develop and provide academic competitions, curriculum, and assessment to promote learning and academic excellence through teamwork among students of all achievement levels.
The 2018-2019 Academic Decathlon topic of study is the 1960s. Students have spent the school year studying the following:
• SCIENCE: The science topic is an introduction to laser technology and its applications.
• LANGUAGE & LITERATURE: The literature curriculum includes critical reading, one long work of literature, and selected shorter works. The long work of literature is the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard.
• ART: The art curriculum includes a section on art fundamentals and largely focuses on an introduction to the art of the 1960s.
• MUSIC: The music curriculum provides an introduction to the music of the 1960s.
• SOCIAL SCIENCE: The social science curriculum covers U.S. history in the 1960s.
• ECONOMICS: The economics curriculum covers fundamental economic concepts, microeconomics, and macroeconomics, and also includes a thematic section on the U.S. economy in the 1960s.
• MATHEMATICS: The mathematics curriculum covers permutations and combinations, algebra, and statistics.
Congratulations Warrior AcaDeca on an awesome performance at your scrimmages and regional competition, and good luck at the State!
As an enhancement to their study of the Sixties, Warrior AcaDeca students enjoyed the opportunity to attend a symposium featuring American Journalist, Historian, and Presidential Biographer Jon Meacham, who spoke on "Tumult, Tragedy and Hope: America in 1968 from a Half Century Perspective." The event was held at the Lied Center in Lincoln on Oct. 9, 2018, and was part of the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues.
