The 2006-07 San Bernardino County Academic Decathlon was held on two consecutive Saturdays, January 27 and February 3, at Arroyo Valley High School in San Bernardino.  The scholastic contest pitted students from 25 high schools in 10 school districts and one private school against one another in 10 academic disciplines.

This year's theme, "China and Its Influence on the World," and the Super Quiz topic "An Introduction to Climatology," provided a challenge, powerful academic growth, and tremendous rewards for the students involved.  The Fontana Unified School District was well represented in the Academic Decathlon by teams from A.B. Miller, Fontana, and Kaiser High Schools.

Like the Decathlon of the ancient Greeks, the San Bernardino County Academic Decathlon consists of ten exacting and exciting competitions.  But, while the Greek events were contests of physical strength, the San Bernardino County event is a test of academic strength and endurance.  Teams are composed of nine students, three from each of the grade point categories of “A” (Honors), “B” (Scholastic), and “C” (Varsity).  There were written tests in the areas of math, economics, science, language/literature, music, art and social science.  Students wrote an essay, faced a panel of interviewers and gave impromptu and prepared speeches.  For the finale, teams competed in a Super Quiz, a college bowl-style event consisting of 30 multiple-choice questions.

Fontana Unified School District was proud to have teams from three of its comprehensive high schools participate in the Academic Decathlon.  Overall, Kaiser High School's Team finished in seventh place and Kaiser student Sean Ellis finished 2nd overall in the County Varsity Division.  A.B. Miller High School came in 17th place and received an award for Most Improved School in San Bernardino County.  Redlands High School won their third straight championship and will compete at the California Academic Decathlon, March 15-18, 2007 in Los Angeles.

Congratulations to all our FUSD Academic Decathlon teams and coaches!

A.B. Miller High School - Ruby Navarro, Coach

Division I Team
Jeremy Flores, Angelica Campos, Joseph Colin, Xiaochen Sheng, Victor Escobar, Daniel Gonzalez, Ingrid Shin, Ryan McKeon, and Alan Chagolla

Division II Team
Princess Lumban-Goal, Jordan Simanjuntak, Shemika Lamare, Jung Do Suh, Ariel Kay, Thu-Van Nguyen, Sheng-Chin Fu, and Amandeep Kaur

Fontana High School - Theresa Aguilar, Coach

Kaiser High School - Sean O'Connor, Coach

Division I Team
Vivian Garcia, Elias Massoud, Chelsea Harris, Jason Esmerio, Lois McGuthrie, Sean Ellis, Ignacio Silva, and Ryan Moore

Division II Team
Juan Bolanos Rodriguez, Arturo Turrubiartes, Jacob Knudsen, Meagan Goetz, Ylysses Berrios, Erick Behr, Jocelyn Sida, Casey Nugent, and Matthew Zepeda

Academic Decathlon Individual Winners

Social Science

Division I

3rd Place

Scholastic

Jason Esmerio

Kaiser HS

Language/Literature

Division I

Speech

Division I

1st Place

Honors

Chelsea Harris

Kaiser HS

Economics

Division I

1st Place

Varsity

Sean Ellis

Kaiser HS

Art

Division I

3rd Place	Varsity	Sean Ellis	Kaiser HS
3rd Place	Varsity	Ignacio Silva	Kaiser HS

Essay

Division I

1st Place	Varsity	Sean Ellis	Kaiser HS
2nd Place	Honors	Chelsea Harris	Kaiser HS

Super Quiz

Division II

1st Place	Honors	Jacob Knudsen	Kaiser HS

Highest Performing Student on Each Team:

• Angella Campos - A.B. Miller HS, Division I
• Princess Lumban-Gaol - A.B. Miller HS, Division II
• Earl Esteban - Fontana HS
• Sean Ellis - Kaiser HS, Division I
• Juan Bolanos - Kaiser HS, Division II