Highland Park High School's Academic Decathlon team capped off an amazing season by finishing as the second-best team in the nation. The team traveled to Anchorage, Alaska to compete in the U.S. Academic Decathlon National Finals on April 28-29. This was the first time HP competed in the national competition.  

Highland Park scored 52,346 points, behind Granada Hills Charter School in California. HP students captured 44 individual medals, three individual division medals, awards for communications and economics and $3,200 in scholarships. 

"We are very proud of the students for their academic successes this year," HPHS AcDec Coach Greg Bergeron said. "I am also incredibly proud of how they represented themselves and the Highland Park community during this trip."

The AcDec team, led by Bergeron and assistant coach David Alvarado, punched its ticket to the national competition by winning the Texas state championship in February. It was the first state championship in Highland Park's history. 

During the competition, students were quizzed on categories such as science, math, economics, literature, social science, art, music and speech. Every HPHS team member earned at least a top-three finish in one category, with several earning first place in multiple categories. 

The students on the AcDec team, with individual awards, are: 

Honors Division

• Michael Hodak: First place in economics, music and social science, second place in literature and science, Most Valuable Team Member, Highest Scoring Student team award, B. Franklin Reinauer II Economics Prize
• Michael Xie: Second place in economics, literature, science and art, third place in music and math
• Kevin Chen: Third place in economics, literature and science

Scholastic Division

• Raef Rothschild: First place in music and speech, third place in science, art and interview, Scholastic Division Gold Medal, Norman Katz Communication Award
• Brooke Yung: Second place in social science, literature, science and speech, third place in music, Scholastic Division Silver Medal
• Cheyenne Son: First place in economics, third place in science, literature, social science and music

Varsity Division

• Wyatt Hill: First place in literature and art, second place in economics, third place in science and music, third place in essay, Varsity Division Bronze Medal
• Jack Reynolds: First place in economics and speech, second place in science and music, third place in math, social science and art
• Grant Bailey: First place in science

Click here to read more about the AcDec team's incredible achievement and for more individual student honors.