Academic Decathletes Get Warm Welcome

WOODLAND HILLS — El Camino Real High School’s Academic Decathlon team received a boisterous welcome Friday at a campus victory rally to celebrate its national championship.

The nine-member squad won the highly competitive three-day U.S. meet by 21 points over returning champions James E. Taylor High School of Texas. Decathlon officials could not recall a closer finish in the 60,000-point national contest’s two decades.

As the marching band played, cheerleaders vaulted and guest speakers touted the team’s achievements, it was clear that not only the decathletes, but the entire student body is basking in the glow of the national championship.

“I think it’s pretty cool when you turn on the news and you see the decathlon team. You can say, ‘Hey, that’s my school,’ ” said Symphoni Sykes, a 14-year-old freshman, sitting with friends on the campus quadrangle. “We’re known for something.”

Symphoni’s friend, Johanna Torres, also a 14-year-old freshman, said she is proud that her school is known for its academic prowess.

“It’s important to show off the school’s academic performance,” she said, “and for people to know how much the students, teachers and administrators put into their work.”

It’s especially important in a culture that often exalts sports stats over schoolbooks, Symphoni said.

“There are many high schools that just focus on athletics and don’t think about academics,” she said. “But at ECR, they give as much time to academics as sports.”

In winning, El Camino reclaimed the trophy it had won in 1998 and, in the process, captured the imagination of some students who envisioned themselves in the academic spotlight.

“I would have loved to have been on the academic decathlon team. That’s a cool thing,” said senior Heather Cochran, 18.

“I know that for some kids, the academic team winning doesn’t matter, but it does to me,” she added. “It makes me want to do a little bit extra.”

Sonia Rai, a 15-year-old freshman, said she respects the team’s work ethic.

“They have so much dedication. They manage their time. They don’t complain. They have all of their other work, plus the decathlon work,” she said.

While she admires the decathletes, Sonia said she has not quite made their study habits her own. “You think about all the time they are putting in, but you don’t necessarily act on that thought.”

Even though El Camino’s team--Elan Bar, Walter Ching, Grace Giles, Aria Haghighi, Samantha Henry, Dennis Kuo, Scott Lulovics, Ryan Ruby and Alan Wittenberg--were in the spotlight on Friday, students on the Woodland Hills campus know they are not star-tripping.

“They are the smart kids, and they are nerdy,” said 15-year-old freshman Chelsea Bayouth, standing with friends on the campus quadrangle. “[But] they are the nicest people. It hasn’t gone to their heads.”

‘They are the smart kids, and they are nerdy. [But] they are the nicest people. It hasn’t gone to their heads.’

Chelsea Bayouth, freshman at El Camino Real High School