February 10, 2020
Bandera Academic Decathlon - Region Champions
By Dan Zavorka
Special to the Prophet
The Bandera Academic Decathlon team aptly called the “Beast” three years ago by the master of ceremonies at the Corpus Christi region competition, has once again lived up to its name.
For the third year straight, the Bandera Decathlon team not only took the small-school title but beat the scores of every other school at the regional competition, 4A, 5A and 6A. Additionally the team has enjoyed being a super quiz champion for three years.
This year, Bandera’s score was the highest score of all three divisions at the competition.
Academic Decathlon is comparable to UIL academic competition on steroids. The students work year-around on a theme-based program, learning theme related subject matter, testing on it, and also demonstrating life skills like essay writing, interviewing and speaking in front of stranger with a prepared speech.
This year’s theme is “Health and Wellness,” the science is the science of oncology, the economics is the economics associated with health care, the literature is a collection of stories, short and long, of death and dying, the music and art is associated with historical catastrophes such as the European Black Plague, the social science is associated with the medical history, and the math, well the math is just tough.
The Bandera team is actually three “teams” each competing with similar students. The honors team is comprised of the “A” students, usually national merit students, valedictorian and salutatorians, and other students of academic savvy within a school. The scholastic team is made of those hard-working “B” students that prove to be great leaders and may not be as concerned about their grades. The varsity team, are all around great students that really don’t often worry about their grades. These are what we lovingly refer to as the “C” or lesser students. The “C” student can compete as an “A” student, but the “A” student can never compete as a “C” student.
Students not only compete in 10 events, but they are recognized for their accomplishments if they are among the top five scoring students.
Bandera had eight overall top scores.
Varsity – 5th and 2nd overall scores were earned by Catherine Molina and Samuel Nimmrichter respectively.
Scholastic – 3rd, 2nd, and 1st overall scores were earned by Hannah Bates, Rebecca Ellingson, and Ethan Ellingson respectively.
Honors – 3rd, 2nd, and 1st overall scores were earned by Samantha Rubalcava, Luke Bitzkie and Christian McKnelly respectively. Additionally, Christian now holds the record of the highest score at regional competition for small schools, 8,761.3.
The students earned 42 subject-area medals and team medals for both super quiz and small-school champion.
Here are the Individual Scores – by Alpha. Medals received were either gold silver or bronze to indicate 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.
Hannah Bates: art – gold; essay – silver; literature – silver; science – silver; social science – bronze
Luke Bitzkie: art – silver; economics – bronze; literature – gold; mathematics – silver; music – silver; science – bronze; social science – bronze
Ethan Ellingson: economics – gold; essay – gold; literature – silver; mathematics – gold; music- gold; science – gold; social science – silver
Rebecca Ellingson: literature – gold; social science – bronze; speech – silver; music – silver
Christian McKnelly: economics – gold; essay – gold; mathematics – gold; music – gold; science – gold; social science – gold
Cyrus Mendez: mathematics – silver; economics – silver
Catherine Molina: interview - silver
Samuel Nimmrichter: art – silver; mathematics – gold; music – gold; science – silver; social science – silver; literature - bronze
Samantha Rubalcava: art –bronze; economics –bronze; music – silver; science – silver
The Academic Decathlon will compete at state competition at Frisco in early March.
For the third year straight, the Bandera Decathlon team not only took the small-school title but beat the scores of every other school at the regional competition, 4A, 5A and 6A. Additionally the team has enjoyed being a super quiz champion for three years.
This year, Bandera’s score was the highest score of all three divisions at the competition.
Academic Decathlon is comparable to UIL academic competition on steroids. The students work year-around on a theme-based program, learning theme related subject matter, testing on it, and also demonstrating life skills like essay writing, interviewing and speaking in front of stranger with a prepared speech.
This year’s theme is “Health and Wellness,” the science is the science of oncology, the economics is the economics associated with health care, the literature is a collection of stories, short and long, of death and dying, the music and art is associated with historical catastrophes such as the European Black Plague, the social science is associated with the medical history, and the math, well the math is just tough.
The Bandera team is actually three “teams” each competing with similar students. The honors team is comprised of the “A” students, usually national merit students, valedictorian and salutatorians, and other students of academic savvy within a school. The scholastic team is made of those hard-working “B” students that prove to be great leaders and may not be as concerned about their grades. The varsity team, are all around great students that really don’t often worry about their grades. These are what we lovingly refer to as the “C” or lesser students. The “C” student can compete as an “A” student, but the “A” student can never compete as a “C” student.
Students not only compete in 10 events, but they are recognized for their accomplishments if they are among the top five scoring students.
Bandera had eight overall top scores.
Varsity – 5th and 2nd overall scores were earned by Catherine Molina and Samuel Nimmrichter respectively.
Scholastic – 3rd, 2nd, and 1st overall scores were earned by Hannah Bates, Rebecca Ellingson, and Ethan Ellingson respectively.
Honors – 3rd, 2nd, and 1st overall scores were earned by Samantha Rubalcava, Luke Bitzkie and Christian McKnelly respectively. Additionally, Christian now holds the record of the highest score at regional competition for small schools, 8,761.3.
The students earned 42 subject-area medals and team medals for both super quiz and small-school champion.
Here are the Individual Scores – by Alpha. Medals received were either gold silver or bronze to indicate 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.
Hannah Bates: art – gold; essay – silver; literature – silver; science – silver; social science – bronze
Luke Bitzkie: art – silver; economics – bronze; literature – gold; mathematics – silver; music – silver; science – bronze; social science – bronze
Ethan Ellingson: economics – gold; essay – gold; literature – silver; mathematics – gold; music- gold; science – gold; social science – silver
Rebecca Ellingson: literature – gold; social science – bronze; speech – silver; music – silver
Christian McKnelly: economics – gold; essay – gold; mathematics – gold; music – gold; science – gold; social science – gold
Cyrus Mendez: mathematics – silver; economics – silver
Catherine Molina: interview - silver
Samuel Nimmrichter: art – silver; mathematics – gold; music – gold; science – silver; social science – silver; literature - bronze
Samantha Rubalcava: art –bronze; economics –bronze; music – silver; science – silver
The Academic Decathlon will compete at state competition at Frisco in early March.