As the Northland’s Academic Decathlon team begins its second year, the team has grown substantially. With all the new people, previous members of the team, Senior Danielle Rangel and Junior Brooklyn Freeman, are now both co-captains to help with the team and whole process.

For those who don’t know, Academic Decathlon is a class where students are chosen to compete academically through a range of topics.

Freeman dives deeper into the topic and explains how; “In Academic Decathlon, we explore the objective areas of art, music, literature and language, social science, science, economics, and math in relation to a universal, annual theme along with subjective categories of speech, interview, and essay. We also learn about teamwork and leadership.”

And from what I’ve seen so far, it seems like a fun class. From an outside perspective, the students are given packets that have different subjects which is their job to learn and understand the information and in the end to compete for their school. In class, they would study, play review games, test, and quiz to test their knowledge to do well overall.

One of their average routines in class Rangel explains is how, “In class we are put in study groups where we read and talk about the material.”

But as co-captains, both of them have extra responsibilities. As they help other groups, supervise the other officers, and encourage their fellow teammates, they also work closely with the captain, Mrs. Cheryl Freeman. They both help plan the order and pacing of the material.

Rangel describes her experience as a co-captain so far as exciting, “It’s exciting to see how our group is going to do and how we work as a team.”

Brooklyn Freeman adds, “My experience as a co-captain in Acadec thus far has been great! I love learning and sharing this responsibility with my co-captain, Danielle. Also, my teammates are all so welcoming and kind-hearted which makes being a captain that much more enjoyable.”

The team is described as a family and both co-captains can’t wait for the competitions to start to see the hard-work pay off.

Mrs. Freeman, the captain of the ACADEC team, states, “My experience so far has been incredible! Although I miss last year’s team, I love this year’s team. The members are kind, smart, and so much fun!  The selflessness and heart of this group is nothing short of inspiring. Their ability to learn and grow while also being creative and innovative through teamwork is the best!”

“As this second ACADEC year commences, my expectations are for the team members to respect each other, to grow together, and to reach their highest potential.”