by Craig Petinak on 2023-02-08

After weeks of academic competition, the 40th Annual Riverside County Academic Decathlon ended with Western Center Academy, a charter school from Hemet Unified School District, being named the overall champion for the first time in the school’s history.

The competition started on January 18 with essays, then proceeded to speeches and interviews on January 21. Written tests were also part of the cumulative team scores.

Elsinore High School finished second while Corona High School finished third. Beaumont High School finished fourth and Hemet High School was fifth overall. Western Center Academy fielded two teams (Blue and Green), and the Blue team finished on top.

The 2023 theme was “The American Revolution and the New Nation.”

The popular Super Quiz took place on Saturday, February 4, at Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley. The Super Quiz competition featured 9 teams from 8 high schools and 7 Riverside County school districts, answering questions in a quiz show-style event. Western Center Academy’s Blue team was also the winner of the Super Quiz.

The California Academic Decathlon will be held on Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Santa Clara. The California champion will advance to the United States Academic Decathlon set for April 27-29, 2023, in Frisco, Texas.