Taft’s Whiz Kids Cram for Contest

A team of Taft High School seniors that defeated 44 California high schools to win the state Academic Decathlon last month has its sights on winning the national competition beginning Friday in Providence, R.I.

“We’re here and we’re studying,” Arthur Berchin, a Taft teacher and coach of the school’s nine-member Academic Decathlon team, said from Providence.

The team from the Woodland Hills school will represent California in the two-day national Academic Decathlon, which will test students from 37 states in subjects such as mathematics, fine arts and history. Taft beat out Beverly Hills High School to win first in the state competition.

The students will compete for more than $30,000 in scholarship money.

The Taft team, which left Los Angeles on Monday, was the first of the participating teams to arrive in Providence. But there hasn’t been time for sightseeing, Berchin said in a telephone interview. “We’ve been seeing Rhode Island through our hotel room windows,” he said.

3 Days to Prepare

The team’s arrival early in the week gives the students time to rest from the long plane ride, but also allows them three full days to prepare for the competition’s seven written exams, interview, speech and Super Quiz, Berchin said.

The Super Quiz, the only public portion of the competition, will be broadcast in Los Angeles live on Channel 58 beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday.

There were no returning members from last year’s Taft team that won the state championship but lost in the 1988 national finals to J. J. Pearce High School of Richardson, Tex. This year’s team--a mix of A, B and C students, as required by competition rules--is described by Berchin as more self-motivated than last year’s team.

Team members include a varsity basketball player, a student officer and a student actor.

Taft is trying to duplicate the feat of the 1987 Marshall High School team from Los Angeles, which won both the California and national Academic Decathlon titles.