Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • February 16, 2011 FLOW Area Schools finish first and second in academic decathlon by Frank J. McMahon The Ramapo High School Academic Decathlon Team finished first among all Region 2 schools in the regional competition, which was held at Ramapo High on Jan. 29. The Indian Hills High School team earned a second place finish in the event. Ramapo was also the Division 2 winner, earning the top score in its division, based on school size. Both teams will now participate in the state competition scheduled for March 5 at Morris Knolls High School. Mackenzie Mozera of Ramapo was named her team’s most valuable player. Grant W. Stonebrink was named the most valuable player of the Indian Hills team. Ramapo students who received the award for being the highest scoring decathlete at each level were: Madeline Feinstein, varsity level; Mackenzie Mozera, scholastic level; and Sean Foley, honors level. Top scoring Indian Hills students were: Matthew Marner, varsity level; William Nedds, scholastic level; and Sasha Churikova, honors level. The following are the major award winners as they reflect consistent performance in all 10 events. The overall medal means the student earned medals in almost every event, the six test events, plus speech, interview, essay, and the oral Super Quiz. Ramapo’s Taylor Tracy wrote the top scoring essay, and Ramapo’s Madeline Feinstein prepared the top scoring speech. At the honors level, the top overall decathlete from the district was Ramapo student Sean Foley, who won the silver medal for the overall decathlete award. At the scholastic level, the top overall decathletes from the district were William Nedds of Indian Hills High School, who won the silver medal for the overall decathlete award, and Mackenzie Mozera of Ramapo, who won the gold medal for the overall decathlete. Varsity level top overall decathletes from the district were Timothy Castor of Indian Hills, who won the bronze medal for overall decathlete; Matthew Marner of Indian Hills, who won the silver medal for overall decathlete; and Madeline Feinstein of Ramapo, who won the gold medal for overall decathlete. The United States Academic Decathlon is an annual high school competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon Association. The competition consists of seven multiple choice tests, two performance events, and an essay. The curricular theme for the competition was “The Great Depression.” The language and literature curriculum included critical reading, one novel, two interviews, one essay, two short stories, and two poems. The featured novel in the competition was the “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck. The art curriculum covered fundamentals, but focused on the Great Depression. The music curriculum covered basic elements of music theory and focused on American music of the 1930s. The social science curriculum highlighted the Great Depression and the New Deal. The economics curriculum covered fundamental concepts, microeconomics and macroeconomics, and included a thematic section that focused on the Depression. The math curriculum covered topics in algebra, coordinate geometry, and trigonometry. The Super Quiz concerned geology and included a case study of the Dust Bowl, a 1934 storm that covered 300,000 square miles with massive clouds of dust that blotted out the sun over western Kansas, swept toward Oklahoma and Texas, and eventually spread to the entire eastern seaboard. Resources for the Super Quiz included readings on topics including rock formation, the geological time scale, the hydrologic cycle and groundwater, the causes of the Dust Bowl, plate tectonics, and fossil fuel resources. The Ramapo High School Academic Decathlon coach is Meredith Noah and Indian Hills High’s coach is Mike Catelli. The regional awards dinners were cancelled this year due to snowstorms, but both Ramapo and Indian Hills are planning to have a small combined ceremony of their own on Feb. 16. The regional school board is planning to recognize the academic decathlon teams at its March 14 session. The Wyckoff Chamber of Commerce ��������������� ���������� ���������������� Winter specials available now for a limited time only. Call Robin at 973-636-7000 ����������� ����������������������� ������������������ ������������������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������� ���������������������������� ����������������� ������������������������� ������������������������������������������ ���������������������������� ������������������������� ������������ ����������������