Academic Decathlon will meet on Oct. 19 to prepare for its two upcoming competitions.

The Area Competition will be Jan. 23 at Homestead High School. State will be Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 at Purdue University.

“We meet on Mondays usually. It’s a lot of self-study. We give them a binder with 10 activities,” Academic Decathlon co-coach Scott Staley said.

The theme this year is the French Revolution. Students learn about the art, music, language and literature, math, economics and science of this time period. Students also study super quiz, speech, essay and interview in order to prepare for the competitions.

“We’d like to win State and go to Nationals because we placed fourth last year,” Leslie Cornelius, Academic Decathlon president and senior, said. To accomplish this goal, the team has to defeat rivals like Martinsville High School, which has won State for the past 10 years.

Staley said nine students participate in the competitions, but about 20 came to the call-out meeting. By Natalie Maier <[email protected]>