It’s a testament to the quality of the education at Floyd County Schools that nearly 30 local students will compete today at the Georgia Academic Decathalon State Competition in Gwinnett County.

Academic decathlon teams from Coosa, Armuchee and Pepperell high schools will join 19 other teams at Berkmar High to vie for the title of Georgia Academic Decathlon State Champion. 

The championship competition began Friday and will culminate today, said Tim Hensley, assistant to the superintendent.

Perhaps the most exciting and highly anticipated part of the competition is the Super Quiz, a game show-formatted event where students who are quickest to hit the buzzer and provide the correct answer receive points for the team. 

The Super Quiz takes place today at 2 p.m. and will test students on material they learned throughout the curriculum.

Coosa High School won the Floyd County School Academic Decathlon back in January, and each district winner represents its school system at the state competition. Armuchee High finished second in the local competition and Pepperell High placed a close third. 

Teams that don’t place first in the school system competitions are invited to submit their scores for consideration as Wild-Card teams in the state finals. Armuchee High and Pepperell High were two of just nine teams throughout the state to be invited to participate as Wild Cards.

The run-up to

April nationals

During the competition, teams of high school students compete in 10 academic events, and team as well as individual honors are awarded.

The Academic Decathlon program is unique, Hensley said, because each nine-member team is comprised of a variety of academic talent-levels in the classroom. 

Students with the highest academic honors compete in the Honor category; next follows the Scholastic division and then Varsity. Three students from each team participate in the different levels.

Students are tested in seven content areas: economics, art, language and literature, mathematics, science, social science and music. In addition, students are awarded points in three communication events: public speaking, personal interview, and written essay. This year’s overall curriculum theme is “Russia.”  

The highest-scoring team in the competition will represent Georgia in the national championship. The United States Academic Decathlon Nationals will be held April 25-27, in Minneapolis, Minn.