By Kerry Cavanaugh, Staff Writer - LA Daily News http://bit.ly/FQEEvt
This Daily News file photo shows the Granada Hills Charter High School team celebrating its LAUSD title on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012 at the Academic Decathlon Awards ceremony at the Los Angeles Convention Center. On Sunday, March 18, 2012, Granada Hills Charter High School won the state Academic Decathlon competition in Sacramento. (Hans Gutknecht, Staff Photographer)
This Daily News file photo shows Granada Hills Charter High School senior Sean Wejebe as the top-scoring competitor for the LAUSD at the Academic Decathlon Awards ceremony Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. On Sunday, March 18, 2012, Granada Hills Charter High School won the state Academic Decathlon competition in Sacramento. (Hans Gutknecht, Staff Photographer)
Updated: 03/18/2012 - 2:42:30 PM PDT :: For the second year in a row Granada Hills Charter High School won the California Academic Decathlon competition Sunday, sending the team to New Mexico next month to defend its national title.
The nine-member Granada Hills squad scored 52,327 out of 60,000 possible points during the grueling two-day contest in which students completed essays, tests, speeches, interviews and finally the rapid-fire Super Quiz.
Besides dominating the Super Quiz, Granada Hills team members were also among the highest scoring individuals in numerous categories.
The team's win was announced shortly after noon during an awards ceremony in Sacramento, the culmination of a nail-bitingly competitive contest.
"I almost had a heart attack. It was a close event. We were all so tense," said Granada Hills team member Lev Tauz. "When we heard that we won, we released that tension and then jumped up in the air.
"I'm really proud of everybody here," Tauz added. It takes guts to come out here. I'm proud I got to compete against all these amazing people."
Also on the Granada Hills team are Sean Wejebe, Hamidah Mahmuch, Christian Koguchi, Priscilla Liu, Kimberly Ly, Jimmy Wu, Stella Lee, Julia Wall.
El Camino Real Charter High School came in second place with 51,280 points. The Woodland Hills campus has won five national championships in the past and will compete next month for large school top honors in the Academic Decathlon national on-line contest.
Marshall High School in Los Feliz took home third place. Franklin High in Highland Park placed fifth, Taft High placed 10th and Van Nuys placed 12th. Burbank High School placed 16th. And Francis Polytechnic High School placed 38th out of 65 teams.
Cliff Kerr, LAUSD's Academic Decathlon coordinator, said this year's contest was particularly competitive. The scores were among the highest in the nation.
"This is the best group of students ever at a state competition," Kerr said. "All around. All the teams. The kids at this competition were so incredibly focused."
Decathletes often spend 10 hours a day for months studying and prepping. Teams are made up of students from each of three grade-point average categories - A, B and C. The effort can be life transforming.
"Without this program, the students may have continued getting Cs and not fully realizing their potential. Then they join this program and they see they're outscoring kids with 3.0 and 4.0 GPAs," said Spencer Wolf, one of the coaches of the Granada Hills' team, whose "C" students scored as well as many "A" and "B" students.
"It's a testament to the kind of instruction we have at Granada," Wolf added.
The Granada Hills team - like many of the other LAUSD teams - is made up of English-language learners and the children of immigrants, said Kerr.
Team member Jimmy Wu's father immigrated from China and was one of Kerr's English as a second language students at Reseda Adult School 20 years ago.
"You take a look at the names of the kids and their backgrounds. They are all either immigrants themselves or sons and daughters of immigrants," Kerr said. "They are living the American Dream."
The Granada Hills team will take a few days off to rest and celebrate before hitting the books again in preparation for the U.S. Academic Decathlon on April 26-28 in Albuquerque, N.M. Granada will try to win the state's 10th consecutive national title.
LAUSD schools usually rank among the most successful in the California Academic Decathlon competition, and this year was no different.
LAUSD sent a record 13 high schools to the state championship.
Yet, there was a cloud over the competition.
Last week, the L.A. Unified's Board of Education passed a worst-case scenario budget plan that cuts funding for Academic Decathlon. The program would lose $400,000 that pays for the regional competition and stipends for coaches - unless there is an infusion of cash from the state, employee concessions or from tax measures planned for the November ballot.
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