Few high school students voluntarily spending their spare time studying, but an intelligent group of young adults at Northern High School do just that.
The students, led by their coach and teacher, Alisa Kimber, study various subjects in order to prepare for two different scholastic competitions – the Academic Decathlon and the Academic Games.
The Academic Decathlon is a once-a-year competition in that takes place in Lansing. Team members from high schools in Detroit and Lansing compete against one another in a series of tests, interview questions, essays and speeches.
The Decathlon team is divided into three sections based on students’ grade point averages:
• The first team is the honors team, which requires students to have a GPA of 3.7 or higher.
• The second is the scholastic team for students with a 3.0 to a 3.69.
• The third is the varsity team, where students must have a 2.0 to 2.89.
Unfortunately, the Detroit Decathlon team’s first season last year was met with a major setback – they never received the materials they needed to study for the competition. The students believe they were sabotaged. Nothing was ever confirmed, however.
Even with the setback, many members feel it was still a good learning experience for them. Sixteen-year-old junior Mashkur Husain was able to attain third place in the interview portion.
Kimber has a strong feeling that the team will do better this year because members received their materials.
Another activity in which students participate is the Academic Games – a competition that Detroit students just entered this year. The games, which focus primarily on English and problem solving, occur once a month on Saturdays in Detroit.
Rashad Jackson, a senior on both teams, says: "I love being with my peers and doing something academically. We are a team that is actually together, and we understand each other more than just a group."
Jackson really values his education and aspires to attend college and become a journalist. He hopes that his academic achievements and participation in extracurricular activities such as Academic Games and Academic Decathlon will help make this dream a reality.
Jackson and the other students on the team all have good things to say about their coach. They admire her dedication and appreciate how she challenges them. They also recognize that it requires a lot of hard work to put together these teams.
Kimber, who also assists the pompon team, spends every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, as well as her seventh-hour class, preparing students for these competitions. But she has no complaints.
"Working with them and seeing their competitiveness in academics makes teaching worthwhile," Kimber says.
For more information about the Academic Games and the Academic Decathlon visit www.academicgames.org and www.usad.org, respectively.