There are so many variations of clubs at Franklin High School, that sometimes it seems impossible to keep track. You have Recycles, Theater, Mirage, Best Buddies, Mock trial . . . but what if there was a club that combined different subjects and also was competitive? I give you ACADEC, or Academic Decathlon.  According to their official website, www.usad.org it can be described as “a ten-event scholastic competition for teams of high school students. Students are tested in 10 categories: Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science, Social Science, and Speech.”

Although that amount of material may seem overwhelming, each school offers teams of nine students. Three of those students are “A” or Honor students, 3 “B” students, and 3 “C” or Varsity students.  Also, even though there are 10 categories, an overall theme is given for each year’s trivia competition, with this year being The Age of Empire. Mr. Kevin McCarthy,
a social studies teacher and club leader for ACADEC, is very enthusiastic for the club this year. “I love ACADEC because it is a way for kids to compete in a way that emphasizes brains rather than athletics.” And what is his overall hope for this year’s team? “Our overall goal is to learn our trivia material while bonding as a team over lots of pizza.”

So how do ACADEC club members feel about joining this club? Sophomore
Heidi Gleichauf, a new member thinks her reasons for joining ACADEC were for “fun”
and that it “would look good on [her] college application.” Not only that, but
she believes it would help her in her core academics and her actual schoolwork.
Junior Mely Wu, who started last school year, feels similar. “After the competition, everything seemed more real and it started to become fun . . .  there’s a lot you can achieve if you work hard! And I guess there is a lot of work and it looks intimidating, but a lot of the stuff you already learned and need refreshing.”

What is a trivia competition club that offers teamwork, loads of trivia, and good food? What is:ACADEC! Competitions are in November and March. ACADEC meets Tuesday s in the
afternoon, and Thursdays in the evenings. See Mr. McCarthy with any questions!