For the second year in a row, the Highland Park High School Academic Decathlon team has won the state championship and is now heading to the national championship. The AcDec team won the state title last week in El Paso, set a new state record for points scored, and secured more than $28,000 in scholarship money for its students.

The team, coached by HPHS teachers Greg Bergeron and David Alvarado, will compete in the national championship April 19-22 in Madison, Wis.

"Coach Alvarado and I are both so proud of this team for its dedication to capturing another state title," Bergeron said. "These students are looking forward to representing our school district and the State of Texas in the national competition. The team finished in second place nationally last year, and we are excited for the opportunity to bring home the first national title in HP's history."

The state competition is split into three divisions - for small, medium and large schools - and Highland Park competed in the medium division. Highland Park finished with 52,525.5 points, the highest total among all three divisions and the highest score by any school ever at the state meet.

"On behalf of the entire high school, I would like to extend my congratulations to this talented and determined group of students," HPHS Principal Walter Kelly said. "An achievement like this speaks volumes about the quality of education throughout HPISD. I am proud of these students and know that they will represent us well on the national stage in Madison."

Academic Decathlon teams are judged on several components during the competition, including a seven-minute interview, a one-hour essay, two speeches and written comprehensive exams in music, art, language/literature, mathematics, economics and social science. The final event in the competition is the Super Quiz relay, where students take turns answering multiple-choice questions in front of an audience.

The students on the HP AcDec team are:

Team members

• Anna Chung, sophomore
• Matthew Forbes, junior
• Wyatt Hill, senior
• Rachel Korn, senior
• Jasmyne Rodriguez, junior
• Abby Warren, senior
• Michael Xie, junior
• Brooke Yung, senior

Information provided by HPISD