
The Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS) Academic Decathalon team won its fifth national title this last weekend in Anchorage, Alaska. This is the fifth win in six years. GHCHS scored 54,195.1 out of 60,000.
Mark Aguila, Julian Duran, Isha Gupta, Joshua Lin, Christopher Lo, Aishah Mahmud, Melissa Santos, Maveen a Ulkarim and Jorge Zepeda represented their school and their coaches, Mathew Arnold, Jon Sturtevant, and Rachael Phipps, well.
“It’s exciting to win at this level,” Arnold said in a press release. “This win isn’t just for us. It’s a way to for the whole school to show our strength. I’m proud of our kids and feel fortunate to be a part of this team!”
The Academic Decathalon is a competition for high school students that includes multiple choice tests, speeches, interviews, and an essay. The competition breaks into three categories based on grade point averages (GPA): Honor (3.75-4.0), Scholastic (3.0-3.74), and Varsity (2.99 or below). GHCHS won the top individual scores in all three after having won all of the preceding competitions at the city and state level as well.