For the fifth consecutive year, Stockton’s Middle College High School has taken home the top overall award in the Academic Decathlon, hosted by the San Joaquin County Office of Education.
Students from 13 high schools across San Joaquin County competed in the 44th annual event. This year’s theme was “Our Changing Climate.”
Middle College High, part of the Lodi Unified School District, earned the Dave Sorgent Winner’s Cup and now advances to the state championship, which will be held March 20-23.
The competition, which began with virtual essay events in December, continued with speech and interview rounds on Jan. 17 at the Teachers College of San Joaquin. The final rounds, including objective tests in subjects like art, economics, literature, mathematics, music, science and social science, took place Feb. 1 at Lathrop High School, culminating in the high-energy Super Quiz competition and awards ceremony.
The contest was divided into three categories: Honors (3.75–4.0 GPA), Scholastic (3.0–3.74 GPA) and Varsity (0.0–2.99 GPA). The top-three students in each category received medals, certificates and scholarships ranging from $50 to $250.
Top overall schools
First place: Middle College High School (Lodi Unified School District)
Second place: Stockton Early College Academy (Stockton Unified School District)
Third place: Ripon High School (Ripon Unified School District)
Top-scoring students
Sehaj Gill (Stockton Early College Academy, Stockton Unified School District) and Archit Bhattacharyya (Kimball High School, Tracy Unified School District) were the overall top-scoring students.
Each received a $500 Walter Rathhaus Award, provided by the county’s Educational Foundation.
Super Quiz winners
First place: Stockton Early College Academy
Second place (tie): Kimball High School and Middle College High School
Third place: Lathrop High School
Scholarships
University of the Pacific awarded renewable $5,000 scholarships to:
- Kaitlyn Vue (McNair High School, Lodi Unified School District)
- Josephine Bui (Stockton Early College Academy, Stockton Unified School District)