See which Merced County schools placed first in this year’s academic pentathlon

Three schools from sixth to eighth grade placed first in Merced County Office of Education’s 37th annual Academic Pentathlon, which took place this month.

Westside Union Elementary in Los Banos placed first for sixth grade, Washington Elementary took the top spot for seventh grade, and Peggy Heller School in Atwater took first for eighth grade.

Bryan Xiong, an eighth grader from Hoover Middle School in Merced, took first place as the overall top scoring student.

The pentathlon and its awards ceremony were held remotely.

Steve Tietjen, county superintendent of schools, announced the winners in MCOE’s Youtube channel.

“We would like to recognize the pentathletes and their families for the hard work they put in to study and practice this year on top of the other challenges they faced,” Tietjen said.

Like the county’s academic decathlon, the pentathlon’s theme was the Cold War — a theme provided by the United States Academic Decathlon.

Teams were comprised of up to twelve members, four from each division of “A” Honor, “B” Scholastic and “C” Varsity students. This team composition gives students the opportunity to develop skills working with students of different ability levels, motivation and interests.

The principals of the winning schools attributed the wins to dedication of the students and coaches.

“I’m extremely excited for our students and our coach in our school, they worked extremely hard and put in numerous nights, Saturdays, and went above and beyond the regular school day to be successful,” said Joe McColloch, principal of Westside Union Elementary School. McColloch said it’s the 10th year in a row Westside Union Elementary School has won for sixth grade. He also attributed the victory to coach Tammi Schultz.

“We are very proud of the accomplishments of our school district, we are the smallest school district competing in the county,” said Richard Lopez, principal of Washington Elementary.

“They’ve truly earned it, and it showed a lot of resilience, given the year they’ve had,” said Peggy Heller Elementary Principal Lyndsay Olds.

“We have great staff and students, I’m continually humbled as this year goes on at the dedication to what’s best for students and learning. I could not ask for a better place to work, really the win is a testament to what a great place Peggy Heller is.”

Creekside Junior High School, Westside Union Elementary School, Hoover Herbert Middle School, Livingston Middle School, Peggy Heller Elementary School, Shaffer Elementary School, Weaver Middle and Washington Elementary all participated in the pentathlon.

Around 125 students participated in a series of tests ranging from literature, fine arts, math, science and social science. The Super Quiz, a live question event, covered all of the subjects.

The individual awards can be viewed on MCOE’s Youtube channel.

This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 1:31 PM.