Moorpark High's Academic Decathlon champs meet Obama
The Moorpark High School Academic Decathlon team, which won the national competition for the fourth time earlier this year, was greeted by President Obama in the Oval Office earlier this week.
The meeting was one stop in a whirlwind visit to Washington, D.C., by the team and coach Larry Jones. They dined with members of Congress, visited museums and toured the White House.
The trip was one of the perks after a year spent studyingfor the Academic Decathlon competition, a grueling battery of quizzes, essays, tests, interviews and speeches. The nine-member Moorpark team took academic gold at the national competition in April in Memphis, beating every other team in the country and winning 30 individual medals.
It was Moorpark's fourth national championship, further cementing California's dominance in Academic Decathlon. It was the state's seventh consecutive national title and its 16th since the competition began in 1982.
-- Seema Mehta
Photo credit: The White House
It is hard to imagine that California has such financial difficulties when it has the best educational system in the world and, of course, some of the best kids and brains also. Go California, get with it, you are our golden state!
Posted by: Edward Pita | June 27, 2009 at 01:28 AM
Congrats. I am very impressed - you are Super Bowl Champs !
Posted by: Brainy | June 27, 2009 at 05:20 AM
Bravo! For too long the only White House celebrations seemed to be for winners in sports.
All the talk of role models and sports figures, why not these students as role models?
California has a commendable record in these competitions and congrats to the program.
Posted by: Robert Harper | June 27, 2009 at 06:18 AM