St. Francis High School Academic Decathlon Team recently competed in the 33rd Annual California Academic Decathlon in Sacramento, Calif. The team earned a spot in this prestigious state competition by finishing first at the Southern California Private Schools Academic Decathlon (SCPAD) regional competition earlier in the year at Alemany High School. The California Academic Decathlon competition is a contest of academic strength and provides an environment that encourages, acknowledges and rewards academic excellence through teamwork among students of all achievement levels. Sixty-five teams from high schools across California participated in the state tournament.

Based on its total points, St. Francis High School was recognized as the top medium-sized school (enrollment between 651 and 1,300) in California. The team has earned the opportunity to go on to represent California in the United States Academic Decathlon 2012 Medium School Online National Competition scheduled for April 4 and April 27.

In addition to the excellent team finish, three members of the team also received individual awards for their outstanding performance. David Yoo received the silver medal in the Honors Division, interview; Jeremy Koch earned a gold medal in the Scholastic Division, mathematics and Roylance Bird received the silver medal in the Honors Division, speech. Bird was also recognized as the highest scoring student among the members of the St. Francis High School team.