News
Page Navigation
- Plano Independent School District
- Plano ISD Headlines
Academic Decathlon State Competition Results
March 3, 2021
Congratulations to the Plano East Academic Decathlon team who placed second at the 2021 Texas Academic Decathlon State Competition on Saturday, February 27. "We are very proud of our Plano East team of nine students who began learning the Cold War content for this competition in May 2020. Their perseverance throughout their remote learning and COVID pandemic has been inspiring!" said Academic Decathlon Coach Dusty Vincer.
Each decathlete will receive a $900 scholarship for their second place large-school state finish. Plano East Academic Decathlon coaches are: Brandon Pedigo (music theory), Richard Sklar (IB History of the Americas, IH Humanities II) and Dusty Vincer (science department head).
Plano East Senior High Academic Decathlon team: Arman Ahmed, Alex Vu, Rohit Parkar, Tatiana Gong, Nikolai Rura, Avirat Thakor, Sasha Kaplan, Joseph Fung, and Tyler Gee.
Honors Division
- Tatiana Gong, third place - music
Avirat Thakor and Arman Ahmed also contributed to team success in this division
Scholastic Division
- Joseph Fung, fifth place overall ($500 scholarship), first place - music; second place - social science
- Tyler Gee, third place - music
Rohit Parkar also contributed to team success in this division
Varsity Division
- Sasha Kaplan, third place - speech
- Nikolai Rura, second place overall ($1500 scholarship); third place - economics; first place - language and literature; second place - social science, third place - essay; first place - interview
Alex Vu also contributed to team success in this division
About the Texas Academic Decathlon
The United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) is a program that provides high school students an opportunity to experience the challenges of rigorous academic competition through participation in team activities. In addition, the Academic Decathlon involves members of the business/industry as active supporters of a program promoting academic excellence. In the 35 years Texas has participated in the competition, Texas teams have won 9 national championships, placed second 13 times and placed third 7 times.
Region and state contests are held for schools categorized as large, medium and small. Based on a point system, the highest scoring team represents the state at the national USAD competition. All members of the winning team receive scholarships. Texas provides $150,000 in scholarship money each year. Registration fees and the Texas Education Agency contribute to this scholarship fund.