March 5, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 FLOW Area Indian Hills places first in Academic Decathlon by Frank J. McMahon The Indian Hills High School Academic Decathlon team was the overall winner in the Bergen County Regional Academic Decathlon competition held last month at Ramapo High School. The IHHS team also won the Oral Super Quiz, which is like the TV’s “Jeopardy.” Ramapo High placed second overall and third in the Oral Super Quiz. The United States Academic Decathlon is an annual high school academic compe- tition 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 regional competition includes 10 schools with teams of nine students each. Awards are given to the nine highest scor- ing students, and Indian Hills won eight of those nine awards. Last year, the Indian Hills team placed second. “The team did amazingly well this year -- the best I have ever seen as a coach,” Coach Michael Catelli said. “They won an amazing amount of awards this year.” Catelli has been the coach of the school’s academic decathlon program for five years. In the 2012 competition, the Indian Hills team won the overall honor in the com- petition and placed first in the Oral Super Quiz. The Indian Hills team has provided strong performances in 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2012. The 2010 team ranked second in the state, and the 2012 team finished third in the statewide competition. This year, Senior Neha Gupta won a silver medal in speech, bronze in essay, bronze in art, silver in music, honorable mention in economics, gold in math, and the third highest score in the region at the Honors Level. Junior Jesse Mangold won an honorable mention in speech, science, math, and art; gold in music, silver in lan- guage and literature; and the second high- est score in the region at the Honors Level. Junior Karina Rahaman, also an Honors Level competitor, won bronze in art and honorable mention in music and math. Senior Paul Park won honorable men- tion in speech, science, and music; gold in essay, math, and art; silver in history, eco- nomics, language and literature; and posted the second highest score in the region at the Scholastic Level. Park also won the Most Valuable Person Award for Indian Hills High School. Markos El-Far, a senior, won bronze in speech, art, economics, and history; silver in essay, music, math, and science; honor- able mention in interview; and the third highest score in the region at the Scholastic Level. Scholastic Level competitor Evan Cypher, a junior, won honorable mention in speech and science, bronze in essay, silver in art, and gold for interview and history, music, economics, and language and litera- ture. He also posted the highest score in the region at the Scholastic Level. Junior Aimee Donovan, a Varsity Level competitor, won honorable mention in speech, gold in essay and science, silver in interview, bronze in math, and the third highest score in the region at the Varsity Level. Senior Rebecca Li won honorable men- tion in essay and art; bronze in interview, (continued on page 8) LAN promotes Vierheilig LAN Associates Engineering, Plan- ning, Architecture, Surveying, Inc. in Midland Park has announced the promo- tion of Kim Vandegrift Vierheilig, AIA, LEED AP BD+C of Franklin Lakes to vice president. Vierheilig joined the firm in 2002 and has served as director of architecture since 2010. She also heads the firm’s marketing department. Vierheilig designs educational, health care, hospitality, and sustainable build- ing projects. She has assisted numerous organizations with the development of new building sites and designed improve- ments to make existing buildings more functional and dynamic. “Architecture is not just her profes- sion, but her passion,” said Kenneth H. Karle, president of LAN Associates. “We are proud to recognize her profes- sional accomplishments, which have contributed to LAN’s work through design excellence and creating valuable client relationships. Kim’s promotion is one of many positive signs of growth for LAN and the engineering and construc- tion industries in general.” Vierheilig is actively involved in pro- fessional organizations and in her com- Kim Vandegrift Vierheilig munity, having served at the national, state, and local levels of the American Institute of Architects. Currently, she sits on the board of trustees for the Archi- tects’ League of Northern New Jersey and is chairwoman of the Franklin Lakes Planning Board. LAN works with municipalities, non- profits, commercial property owners and private clients throughout northern New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York.