Celebration Honors Decathlon Champs

Still celebrating their national Academic Decathlon victory, a team of seniors from Taft High School were honored Friday by more than 2,000 students, a marching band, Mayor Tom Bradley and an awards ceremony.

The Woodland Hills students won the national title in Providence, R.I., on Monday, defeating teams from 36 states and two foreign countries.

“This is what we worked for, all the attention,” said team member Michael Pocrass, smiling and staring out over the crowded Taft campus, decorated with banners and balloons. Pocrass and his eight teammates waited on a stage platform for the awards being bestowed by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“It’s what we expected, what we hoped for,” Pocrass said.

The scholars appeared Friday night on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show.” And although they met with former President Ronald Reagan in Century City on Thursday and received a congratulatory letter from President George Bush, “We’re seeing about getting them an invitation to the White House,” said Ann Joynt, U.S. Academic Decathlon executive director.