Decathletes will compete nationally next month
WOODLAND HILLS — With hundreds of hours of studying and a little help from Santa Monica College, David Novgorodsky and the rest of the Taft High School academic decathlon team were able to trounce the competition and win the state title.
They will now go on to compete in the U.S. Academic Decathlon, which will be held April 27 and 28 in San Antonio, Texas, where they will be challenged by more than 40 other teams, one from nearly every state in the country.
Novgorodsky and his teammates said they couldn’t have come this far if it was-n’t for the training they received as part of SMC’s dual enrollment program, which offers college courses to approximately 1,500 students at 30 high schools across Los Angeles County.
“It was a great benefit for us, particularly on the literature section where we had to answer questions that called for us to think critically about a piece of writing,” said Novgorodsky, 17, a senior at Taft. “The work we did in dual enrollment definitely helped us prepare, not only for the decathlon, but for when we transfer into college next year.”
Dual enrollment was created in 1998 with 675 students at 17 schools as a way to make up for classes that were cut by school districts, such as music, theater and art, said John Gonzales, director of dual enrollment at the college. SMC expanded the program to include courses in English, math, early childhood education and speech — all with credits transferable when students go on to college full-time.
“This program is saving kids a lot of work and a lot of money before they go on to college,” Gonzales said.
The courses are offered at SMC and at the individual schools that participate. Each course follows standards set by SMC, with high school teachers administering the courses.
Students at Taft who enter a gifted English program are allowed to enroll at SMC once they begin their junior year. Taft engages in meetings with SMC to monitor the progress of the classes.
“It really gives us an advantage when we are competing against other schools,” said Arthur Berchin, an English teacher at Taft and the coach of the decathlon team. “We get the best of both worlds.”
Taft student Monica Schettler, 17, a member of the decathlon team, said the best part of dual enrollment is that it challenges her to think.
“It provides curriculum that is really up to par with where we are intellectually, and it is just a better opportunity for us to further our education,” she said. “It gives you a better understanding of what college will be like next year and how to better manage the classes that you have and stay on top of your assignments, because now you go to class every day, but in college, you might not be in class except for one day a week. It can be easy to fall behind if you’re not prepared.”
The Taft team is not looking to fall behind when they reach San Antonio next month. After just five days off following its victory last week, the team is back practicing again.
“We don’t want to rest on our laurels,” Berchin said. “We have a good chance of winning this whole thing, so we want to come out strong and represent Santa Monica and Taft, as well as the state of California.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 27, 2006. Read the original PDF.