Merced County students to test their knowledge in ‘virtual’ academic decathlon Saturday

Eighty students from seven high schools are set to compete this weekend in the 40th Merced County Academic Decathlon.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition and awards ceremony will be held remotely through zFairs software provided by the U.S. Academic Decathlon, Stacie Arancibia, events and community engagement specialist for the Merced County Office of Education, said in a news release.

The theme of this year’s event is The Cold War.

Students from Golden Valley, Merced, El Capitan, Livingston, Delhi, Le Grand and Buhach Colony will compete in seven multiple-choice tests, from math to literature.

The speech and interview portion will start 10:30 a.m. Saturday. In the afternoon, students will participate in a Super Quiz which will be done via Zoom.

The awards ceremony will be live streamed through the Merced County Office of Education’s YouTube channel at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The winning academic decathlon team will represent Merced County in the state championships from March 18 to March 21. This will also be done virtually.

“It’s exciting, but we definitely have to adjust this year,” Arancibia said in the release.

The Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union and other sponsors will award three scholarships to members of each team.

The Merced County Academic Decathlon Association board will host the event. Several volunteers from Merced County of Office of Education with a range of duties, including assisting with reading essays, to judging speeches and conducting interviews.