The student body at Granada Hills Charter High School gave a hero's welcome Monday to the team that won the national Academic Decathlon this weekend.
A rally featuring cheerleaders and bagpipers was held at the school's flagpole to hail the team, which this weekend won the decathlon for the third straight year and the sixth time in the last seven years.
The competition ran Thursday through Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin. Students were tested in seven subject areas: science, literature, art, music, social science, economics and mathematics. The contest culminated with a fast-paced Super Quiz relay, for which this year's topic was World War II.
The nine Granada Hills Charter students scored 54,507 points out of a possible 60,000, defeating dozens of other national teams. Highland Park High School in Texas was second for the second year.
The Granada Hills team members were Mark Aguila, Jordan Barretto, Sabrina Carlos, Sebastian Gonzalez, Christopher Lo, Kevin Ly, Aisha Mahmud, Melissa Santos and Peter Shin. The alternates included Justin Chiang, Dilawar Khan and Sara Jay Thraen.
"The entire L.A. Unified family is extremely proud of your victory and stalwart commitment to teamwork," said Superintendent Michelle King in a statement reported by the Los Angeles Daily News. "You are all fine examples of champions."
