Scholars Are the Pride of LAUSD : Decathlon team shows district image doesn’t entirely hold true

They probably weren’t expecting a lesson in the capriciousness of world history. But it’s safe to say that nine students from the San Fernando Valley’s El Camino Real High School probably have a much better appreciation for the likes of former presidents George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Bush was respected abroad and sunk by a moribund economy at home. Overseas, Gorbachev was a genius. At home, he was the fellow who was given the helm of the Titanic, after it hit the iceberg.

Well, for most of the year, El Camino Real High School students Arabella David, Eldar Brodski, Isis Okowita, Jenny Stefanotty, Sarah Sabolek, Dale Shuger, Justin Weaver, Matthew Backes, and Kasra Torabi are part of the much-maligned Los Angeles Unified School District.

This past week, however, they played the LAUSD’s hard-earned and mostly annual role of the “Scariest Team At The U.S. Academic Decathlon,” one of the nation’s most prestigious secondary school academic competitions. LAUSD schools had claimed the national title in 1994 and 1995, and the district has sent a record eight teams to represent California in the annual contest.

Fortunately, the El Camino students kept the image of the LAUSD as decathlon juggernaut alive, finishing second among students from some of the nation’s best schools. The fact that we have such gifted students here too often gets lost in the criticisms of the LAUSD.