Casa academic team wins eight medals

<p>Casa Grande High School's Academic Decathlon team won eight medals in the state competition in Sacramento March 12-15, and with half the members eligible to return next year, its first-year coach can't wait to get going again.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>“I'm so ready to start preparing for next year,” said Donna Reed, who replaced highly successful Rick Pillsbury as coach, although he helped with the transition by coaching the mathematics and economics areas. “Sometimes, I felt like the captain of a ship who is blindfolded, with Rick telling me to go right or left.</p><p>“In general, I developed an understanding of the whole process of working with students in 10 different subject areas and preparing them for competition.”</p><p>Heading into the California Academic Decathlon State Finals, the Casa Grande team had the 12th best score in Division II (consisting of the 21st through 40th highest-scoring teams in regional competition), and it remained consistent, placing 13th in state competition. Hallmark Charter School of the Sanger Unified School District won the Division II competition, followed by Garfield High School of the Los Angeles Unified School District and Alhambra High School of the Alhambra Unified School District.</p><p> Teams consisted of students from three levels: honors (for students with a grade-point average of 3.75 to 4.00), scholastic (3.00 to 3.74) and varsity (below 3.00). Five Gauchos participants won medals: senior Kristen Schwabe-Fry (honors, one), junior Kathleen Schaefer (honors, three), junior Chloe Arnold (scholastic, one), senior Kaitlin Murphy (varsity, one) and junior Ryan Smith (varsity, two).</p><p>“Kathleen's our hero,” Reed said. “She's a bright student who is very sure of herself, and it's a pleasure to work with her. The sky's the limit for her, but she's very humble about her achievements. She pushes me to be a better coach.</p><p>“Ryan is brilliant, and like a lot of other students, he's shy and a little reserved. It was amazing to see him come out of his shell.”</p><p>Besides Schaefer, Arnold and Smith, two of the nine-member team's other participants — Megan Frisch (honors) and Connor Murphy (varsity) — also are juniors, and could form a strong nucleus for next year's team.</p><p>“We have bright students who are really interested in the Academic Decathlon material, and if students are engaged in material that they're struggling with, this makes their work a lot easier,” Reed said. “Our students did great this year, but I became aware that we will need to focus on shifting gears to get ready for the state competition, because it's a higher caliber of competition than we face in the regional.”</p><p>Reed says that Pillsbury likely will be less involved next year.</p><p>“He wants to step back even more, and be an adviser, which I completely understand,” she said. </p><p>She looks forward to being further enriched by her new role.</p><p>“I'll continue to emphasize my philosophy, which is that Academic Decathlon is not all about winning,” she said. “It's so wonderful to make connections with these students not just through the academics, but also by getting to know them personally. </p><p>“Teachers don't always see the potential in students. Sometimes, they're quiet, but they have the potential to blossom. Academic Decathlon helps me to recognize this, and be a better teacher and coach,” Reed said.</p><p>She treasures one particular moment in the state competition, as she observed Casa Grande participants during the Super Quiz Relay.</p><p>“Their glowing smiles will forever be ingrained in my brain,” she said. </p><p>(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)</p>