Sources: Carla Jones, 785-532-6432, cjones@k-state.edu;
and Heather Reed, 785-532-6432, hreed@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Ella Todd, ellat@k-state.edu
Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008
K-STATE'S CHAPTER OF MORTAR BOARD SENIOR HONOR SOCIETY ORGANIZING ACADEMIC DECATHLON FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
MANHATTAN -- The Kansas Academic Decathlon will be Friday, Jan. 25, and Saturday, Jan. 26, at Kansas State University. K-State's chapter of Mortar Board, the national senior honor society, will be the host of the event at the K-State Student Union.
Student teams from 16 high schools across Kansas and one team from Missouri will compete, testing their intellectual strength. Each team has between nine to 12 members who are selected from three different academic levels: three honor students with grade point averages of 3.75 to 4.0; three scholastic students with grade point averages of 3.0 to 3.74; and three varsity students with grade point averages of 2.0 to 2.99.
Teams are tested in art, economics, language and literature, mathematics, music, and social sciences. The students also write essays, participate in interviews and deliver prepared speeches. The decathlon features a super quiz, where teams earn points for correctly answering questions in a head-to-head competition. The subjects covered in the decathlon are part of a study guide used by teams from across the nation.
Points earned by individual team members are combined for a total team score. The winning team will represent Kansas at the 2008 U.S. Academic Decathlon in Garden Grove, Calif.
High schools scheduled to compete at this year's Kansas Academic Decathlon at K-State include: Bonner Springs High School; Herington High School; Independence High School; Bishop Ward High School, Kansas City, Kan.; University Academy Charter School, Kansas City, Mo.; Shawnee Mission North High School, Mission; Olathe East and Olathe Northwest high schools; Blue Valley North, Blue Valley Northwest, Blue Valley West, Shawnee Mission South and Shawnee Mission West high schools, all of Overland Park; Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village; Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, Shawnee; and Washburn Rural High School, Topeka.
Mortar Board's Academic Decathlon co-chairs are Kaylee Cocke, senior in chemical engineering, Augusta; Chance Lee, senior in sociology and political science, Manhattan; and Danielle English, senior in public relations, Overland Park. State director of the Kansas Academic Decathlon is Diane Hanson from the Shawnee Mission School District. K-State meet directors are Carla Jones, assistant vice president for student life, and Heather Reed, assistant dean of student life.