The Acalanes High School Academic Decathlon Team Photo Diane Morrell, CCCOE

Acalanes High School was announced as the overall team winner of the 2010 Contra Costa County Academic Decathlon at an awards ceremony on February 11th. This is Acalanes' fourth year in a row as the county's team winner. The top high school teams that followed Acalanes were, in order, Campolindo, Miramonte, and Pittsburg. This year's Top Overall Academic Decathlon Individual Award went to Campolindo's Grace Ma.

The annual event, which was held over two consecutive Saturdays (January 30 and February 6), is directed by the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE), along with the assistance of numerouscommunity volunteers. Close to 150 participating students had been studying and preparing for this event with their coaches since September.

The Academic Decathlon provides an opportunity for high school students to compete as individuals and teams in a series of ten academic tests and demonstrations including: art, economics, language and literature, mathematics, music, science, essay, interview, and speech (both prepared and impromptu). The curriculum for this year's event-ending team SuperQuiz was The French Revolution. Acalanes High School will represent Contra Costa County at the California Academic Decathlonthat will be held in Sacramento March 12-15. Last year, the Lafayette high school was named as the overall Division III Team Winner in the California State Academic Decathlon. The National Academic Decathlon will be held in Omaha, Neb., April 21-24.

For more information go to www.cocoschools.org/supe/

events/decathlon.htm.