Moorpark Edges Simi Valley in Super Quiz

Last year’s national champion Moorpark High School won the oral Super Quiz portion of the 18th annual Ventura County Academic Decathlon on Saturday, beating rival Simi Valley High School by one point.

The Moorpark decathletes beat 22 high school teams from 15 schools in the game-show style event at Oxnard High School. The overall winner of the prestigious academic challenge will be announced today at a ceremony at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

“The exhilaration is amazing,” said Zach Ramirez, 17, a Moorpark High School team member. “You’re in front of everybody and everybody is hanging on your every answer. It’s great that everyone can see the end product of six or seven months of studying.”

Hundreds of fans packed Oxnard High School’s gymnasium to watch the contest. The subject of the Super Quiz was “The Sustainable Earth,” and students answered multiple-choice questions on conservation and composting, wildlife and water pollution.

Supt. of Schools Chuck Weis read the questions aloud, then gave the students seven seconds to mark their answer before saying, “Pencils up.”

One question: “Taiga, a kind of frontier forest, is found in--”

As Weis read the answer--Russia--family and friends cheered, clapped and waved pompoms.

Though it’s one of the most exciting elements of the competition, the oral Super Quiz accounts for only 5% of the total score. Last month, Ventura County decathletes wrote essays, gave impromptu and prepared speeches and participated in interviews. Saturday, they took written tests in art, music, math, economics, social science, literature and the environment.

However, a victory in the Super Quiz often points to the eventual winner.

Between tests, students ran into the high school cafeteria to flip through flash cards and snack on “brain” food: potato chips, candy and pretzels. After a series of tests, Newbury Park senior Monique Evans said she was relieved.

“I was biting my fingernails,” she said. “I was nervous. I just hope I did well for my team.”

Since the beginning of the school year, students have juggled jobs, sports and activities to study for the grueling academic competition. They have formed strong bonds with their teammates over late-night study sessions. And they have learned everything there is to know about jazz music, ancient civilizations and the environment.

“I’ve been putting almost all my life into ‘acadeca’ since last year,” said Simi Valley junior Kevin White, 17.

Students aren’t the only ones that put in extra time. The coaches also devote after-school hours to help the students prepare for the contest. Moorpark’s former coach, Larry Jones, retired after last year’s victory, in part because of the toll it took on his private life.

“We have to be their mothers, counselors, friends, maids, coaches and cheerleaders,” said Mary Budny, who has coached Thousand Oaks High School’s acadeca team for three years.

This year’s countywide competition was the largest ever. Countywide coordinator Phil Gore credits Moorpark’s success last year with the increased popularity of the contest. The team beat teams from 38 states to win the national title last April. Also some teams think Moorpark could be beaten because it has a new A-team this year and a new head coach, Michelle Bergman, the assistant coach of last year’s team.

“This is our best year for the Ventura County Academic Decathlon yet,” Gore said. “We have more teams, more students, greater corporate and community support and more volunteers than ever before.”

One of the newcomer teams is Oak Park High School. This fall, students approached their principal to ask if they could compete. Principal Cliff Moore said yes, and he and Cheryl DiSpaltro became the coaches.

“These kids are so motivated,” DiSpaltro said. “They’re gung-ho and enthusiastic.”

Gore pointed out that Saturday’s Super Quiz results are unofficial. The winning team will compete in the statewide contest in Los Angeles in March.

More than one team from Ventura County can advance to the statewide competition as a “wild card” team, if it doesn’t win the county contest but ranks among the highest-scoring teams in the state.