Russia is topic as LAUSD Academic Decathlon begins

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The topic is Russia for the more than 500 students from 58 high schools gathered at Roybal Learning Center in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday for the Los Angeles Unified School District Academic Decathlon.

First up is speech, interview and essay categories.

The competition will conclude on Feb. 2 with the Super Quiz, also at Roybal Learning Center. The decathlon winner will be announced Feb. 8.

The field includes two-time defending national champion Granada Hills High.

‘I think we have the potential here for seeing the best group of decathlon teams ever in LAUSD,’ said Cliff Ker, in his 13th year as the district’s Academic Decathlon coordinator.

The students will be tested on their knowledge of ‘Doctor Zhivago’; the space race between the United States and the USSR; Russian composers, art and architecture; and the economics of communist and post-communist Russia.

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