Hershey High School’s Academic Decathlon will be heading to the Regional competition on February 1st. This is only the team’s second season, and they are already on the cusp of a record-breaking run.
The team, led by English teacher Derek Dietz and assisted by chemistry teacher Emily Hoover, is working hard to perform incredibly well at the event. This may be this team’s last competition this school year unless they qualify for States.
The team initially planned to send eight members as primary competitors in the event. The members were selected after the results of previous scrimmages and their qualifying exams in December. Academic Decathlon splits their team into three divisions based on GPA. Students in the Honors division have a GPA above 3.8, students in the Scholastic division sit between 3.2 and 3.8, and students in the Varsity division sit below 3.2, respectively.
Students Abi Chase, Olivia Ding, Victoria Kerschenheiter, Ana Leon Kovatch, Aliza Somsamaivong, Sophia Tanjung, Asa Wang, and Kailey Whipple all qualified for Regionals in their respective divisions. However, it is projected that multiple students will be absent for the event, meaning that new students will be eligible for admission.
As of January 5, Academic Decathlon was projected to send Gwen Cysyk, Eva Rabago, and Julia Woronko as alternates in the Honors Category for an opportunity to compete at Regionals. Chances are that one of those students will move up to be one of the primary candidates for the scrimmage.