DOWNEY - St. Raymond's Catholic School participated in the 21st Academic Junior High Decathlon held March 5 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.The decathlon was the largest junior high-level academic competition in Southern California, with 104 participating schools. An estimated 5,000 people attended. The decathlon consists of three components: Logic Quiz (a group competition where teams attempt to solve 20 logic puzzles in 50 minutes), Individual Tests (eight decathletes from each team take a test in one of eight subjects including math, science, social studies, English, literature, fine arts, religion or current events; and Super Quiz, another group event where teams are tested on science, literature, fine arts, religion and social studies. Questions are read out loud and the team must answer within 10 seconds. The day included a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Jose Gomez, followed by the awards ceremony. In the Individual Tests category, Robert Nevarez, a seventh grader at St. Raymond's, earned the sixth place medal in science, eighth grader Samantha Ishak won sixth place in fine arts, and eighth grader Guillermo Martinez earned third place in literature. St. Raymond's won 10th place in the Super Quiz, marking the first time the school has earned a medal in the Super Quiz competition. The St. Raymond's School decathlon team consisted of Bryan Mireles, Robert Nevarez, Yami Orihuela, Samantha Ishak, Glenn Himan, Guillermo Martinez, Ben Voigt, Vivian Ramirez, Joshua Franco and Kamilah Gonzalez. Alternates were Andreina Hampton, Allison Palmer and Jessica Vasquez. The team was coached by Mrs. Reynolds.

********** Published: March 17, 2011 - Volume 9 - Issue 48