Simi Students Prepare for the Big Test

When nine Simi Valley High School students toured the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena over the weekend, it wasn’t to admire the art.

The teens were cramming for a segment of what will probably be the toughest exam of their young lives: the statewide Academic Decathlon.

The Ventura County champions are scheduled to leave for Central California today to test their wits against 41 other teams made up of some of the best youthful minds the state has to offer.

The local team has never won a state championship, but then neither have many other schools outside Los Angeles or Orange counties in the 17-year history of the event.

“I feel confident, excited and nervous,” Chris Wagner, the county’s math champion and a Simi Valley decathlon team member, said Tuesday as he worked out math questions on the blackboard that he and other students had missed on a practice test. “I think we have a chance.”

Decathlon coach Ken Hibbitts agrees.

“We’re working very hard,” said the teacher of social studies, economics and government. “We’re very hopeful, but the competition is very tough.”

Other team members seemed more philosophical just three days before the two-day competition begins.

“I’ll be glad when it’s over so I can get caught up with my other homework, like government and physics,” April Mason said.

The students on Simi Valley’s Academic Decathlon team earned the right to represent Ventura County when they outsmarted 13 other county teams in the fall. Each team is made up of three students with A averages, three with Bs and three with Cs.

The 10-part competition begins at Cal State Fresno on Friday afternoon and concludes by 6 p.m. Saturday. The winner of the state contest goes on to the national competition later this year in Atlanta, where Madeline Albright, the U. S. ambassador to the United Nations, will read the Super Quiz questions.

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The Super Quiz, the best-known segment of the competition, is the only portion of the decathlon open to the public. The rest of the events are held behind closed doors.

The theme for the Super Quiz this year is the United Nations, which is stressed in the economics section is well.

Here’s a sample question: The Uruguay round of GATT included for the first time policies concerning: a) Tariff reductions beneficial to the United States, b) The inclusion of China, Russia and Taiwan, c) International counterfeiting of “idea” products, d) The exclusion of China, Russia and Taiwan, or e) Tariff incentives for environmentally responsible products.

The correct answer is C. The kids on the team are expected to know that.

They also know all about 12 pieces of art from the Norton Simon Museum to be included in fine arts segment of this year’s decathlon.

Among others, the artwork includes Rembrandt’s “Portrait of the artist’s son, Titus,” Picasso’s “Woman With a Book” and Rodin’s sculpture, “The Burghers of Calais.”

Students must know about the works as well as about the lives of the artists and their styles. The second half of the fine arts segment requires knowledge of several pieces of classical music, composers and the instruments used in the compositions.

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The other categories in the competition include economics, math, science and literature (this year, the subjects are Homer’s “Odyssey” and Emerson’s essay on self-reliance), as well as give a speech (one rehearsed and one impromptu), write an essay and participate in an interview, during which a student is asked questions similar to those asked of a job applicant.

On Tuesday, as a pair of students slipped out of the afternoon cram session to work on a speech, others stayed with Hibbitts and fellow coach Rob Collins, working on questions from other practice tests.

Although stressed out from all the work needed to prepare for the competition, Greg Ishimoto said he was glad for the chance to be part of the team.

“When you see stuff about Bosnia on television, you wouldn’t really know that much about it,” he said. “But with this class, you get to learn about a lot of things you wouldn’t normally get in high school.”

Team members said parents and teachers had been very encouraging to them. But despite two marquees on campus wishing the Academic Decathlon members luck, most other students are unaware of the event, team member Laura Fults said.

“They’re pretty oblivious.”

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Sample

Question

Q: Impasto style of paint application is best seen in:

a) “The Burghers of Calais”

b) “Portrait of Uncle Dominique [as a Monk]”

c) Balzac

d) “Portrait of the artist’s son, Titus”

e) “Woman With a Book”

A: B