Students Prepare for Academic Face-Off

Academic decathlon team members at Chaminade College Preparatory’s middle school are hitting the books as they prepare to face off against other Catholic school rivals at a statewide competition Saturday.

The eighth-graders plan to spend today and Friday poring over math, science, history, English, religion and other textbooks, hoping to cram so much information into their minds that they’ll have instant recall when the competitive pressure is on.

Team Chaminade must best its competitors from eight other California districts to win the state title, said coach Silva Sahakian.

“They’re so nervous about the competition, but I just keep telling them to relax,” said Sahakian, a math teacher. “I told them, ‘If we win, we win, and if we don’t, we don’t.’ ”

The daylong contest will be held at St. Matthias Pius X High School in Downey, Sahakian said, the same site where Chaminade beat 63 teams in March to capture its district academic decathlon title for the second straight year.

In the competition, Sahakian said, individual team members previously assigned to study specific subjects will be tested on their knowledge of English/spelling, literature, religion, government/civics, math, science, music/fine arts and speech.

The eight-member team will be joined by two more teammates for the logic and Super Quiz portions of the contest, Sahakian said.

The students will work together to answer questions on current events, Old Testament prophets, algebra, science and trivia from the novel, “Roll of Thunder: Hear My Cry” by Mildred D. Taylor, in a Jeopardy!-style competition.

Chaminade team members include Kandis Gilmore, Ryan Arceo, Justin Hsu, Katie Thomas, Jonathan Gray, Sabina Mehra, Lauren De Los Santos and Ali Khan, as well as Muzzamil Ahussan and Kevin Kang, who will take part in the Super Quiz and logic competitions.