North Penn hosts, takes first place, in academic decathlon

Approximately 15 schools from around the state competed in March in the Pennsylvania Academic Decathlon (PAAD) State Competition, hosted at North Penn High School which also took first place in the competition. The win earned North Penn the right to represent Pennsylvania at the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) National Finals in April in Madison, Wisconsin. North Penn has been PAAD state champions eight times, most recently in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

The Academic Decathlon competition first began in 1967, and has since become a national competition involving students of all levels of academic ability in a wide range of content areas. Teams compete in a series of events measuring academic strengths, including written tests in literature, mathematics, art, music, social science, economics and science. Students write an essay, are interviewed by a panel of judges, and give a four-minute prepared speech and a two-minute impromptu speech. Each team member also competed in the “Super Quiz,” a public sample of the Academic Decathlon. Teams consists of nine members, three from each academic category: Honor, Scholastic and Varsity. NPHS State Champion team members include Yang Yue, Connie Jiang, Brittany Wylie, Matt Orefice, Alex Goldberg, Justin Orefice, Nathaniel Maier and Dan Sibel.