Montoursville Students Compete In National Academic Decathalon For The First Time In School History

Harrisburg PA

30 April, 2022

10:33 AM

Description

NorthCentralPA.com April 31, 2022 April 2022 marks the first time Montoursville's Academic Decathlon, or Ac Dec, competed in the National Competition in the team's history. What students do on competition day Deliver speeches, one on a topic of the student's choice, and one on a topic they've never seen before. Write an essay demonstrating not just what they've learned, but how powerfully they can argue an idea. Be interviewed by judges asking thoughtful questions about their past experiences and goals for the future. Take challenging exams in Art, Economics, Literature, Math, Music, Science, and Social Science. Super Quiz™, where teammates take turns solving the most stimulating challenges of all from across every subject they've studied—with a live audience. *source: https://www.usad.org/ The competition was stretched to take place over multiple weeks. The Interview portion was on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. The Speech portion was on Thursday, April 21, 2022. The final six events include Science, Economics, Literature, Mathematics, Music, Social Science, and Super Quiz Relay. In Honors, the most competitive division, junior and AcDec Captain Christian Smith achieved a Gold medal in Literature, a Silver in Science, and two Bronze medals in Economics and Social Science. Smith not only won four medals, but was also voted the M.V.P. for Montourville and got the highest overall score on the team. Smith said, "[W]inning medals in the honors division at nationals is incredible." Junior Zach Smith, and sophomore Rieley Brennan also competed in the Honors division. In Scholastic, the middle division, senior Lanie Mussina got a Gold in Interview, a Silver in Speech, and a Bronze in Music. Sophomore Melody Rzeszotarski got two Gold medals, one in Music and one in Social Science, and a Bronze in Interview. Mussina said, "To see that I won a national medal for something that I have been working on for so long [her speech] is so special," when asked how it feels to have won a medal at the national competition. Rzeszotarski said, "It was a feeling of pure euphoria and also disbelief," when asked about her medals. Montoursville's three medalists; the first in the school's history. From left to right, Melody Rzeszotarski, Christian Smith, and Lanie Mussina. In the Varsity division Seniors Edward Brown, Austin Cummings, and Ac Dec Captain Kayla LeBeau competed. These students were chosen by Mr. Mitch Hart, team advisor and social studies teacher, to represent the MAHS team at both the state and national levels based on their previous scores. The state competition was held in March, the district meet was in February and the scrimmages were in January and November. Hart said, "That was incredible, and I'm so proud of [the team]." "We had all worked so hard for it, and to get it was unbelievable," Smith said when asked about his favorite memory. "The joy on everyone's faces was amazing, and the shared feelings of accomplishment that we shared in that moment was unlike anything else this year." Musina said, "tying for first in the Super Quiz Relay event at states," when asked the same question. Also saying, "Our team's energy was off the charts." NorthcentralPa.com provides the region with reliable, relevant, and real-time news, covering weather, community news and events, crime, police activity, local, regional, and national alerts, and PennDOT-reported road construction and conditions. We report on local and regional politics, offer a platform for nonprofits to report their news and events, and share obituaries. Scanner reports let readers know what's happening outside their homes the minute it happens.