2020 Ventura County Academic Decathlon Winners

The Ventura County Office of Education is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Ventura County Academic Decathlon, which was held in Oxnard over the past two Saturdays. Calabasas High School won both first and second place in the overall competition, with their A team taking the top spot and their B team coming in second. Westlake High School’s A team placed third.

In the popular Jeopardy-style “Super Quiz” portion of the competition, the Calabasas High School A and B teams tied for first place. La Reina High School’s A team came in second and Westlake High School’s A team took third.

Students from 15 local high schools participated in the competition, which was held at Pacifica High School in Oxnard. The theme of this year’s Academic Decathlon is “In Sickness and in Health: An Exploration of Illness and Wellness.” The winners were announced at a ceremony tonight at the Ventura County Office of Education conference center in Camarillo.

This is the fourth year in a row that Calabasas High School has won the Ventura County Academic Decathlon. Calabasas will now advance to the state Academic Decathlon, which will be held in March in Sacramento. The winning California team moves on to the national competition. Teams representing Ventura County have made it to the nationals six times, placing second in 2000 and 2002, and taking first place in 1999, 2003, 2008 and 2009. A list of past winners is available at this link. 

Calabasas High School Academic Decathlon Team A:
(team photo attached)

Coach: Tyler Lee
Richard Dragomirescu-Antonescu

Bella Echols

Nura Esmailizadeh

Benjamin Ford

Emma Hakkakzadeh

Salman Jaberi

Zainab Jamali

Kyle Lev

About the Academic Decathlon

The Academic Decathlon is an opportunity for high school students in Ventura County to compete against like teams of students countywide. Students compete in ten academic events that cover subjects ranging from art to economics. The United States Academic Decathlon is the nation’s premier scholastic competition for students from public and private high schools across the country.

A unique aspect of the competition is that it’s designed to include students from all academic backgrounds. A team consists of nine full-time students from the 9th through 12th grades at the same high school. Each team is comprised of three students whose grade point average falls into the “A” category, three students in the “B” category and three students in the “C” category. Additional information about the Ventura County Academic Decathlon is available at this link.

# # #

About the Ventura County Office of Education

The Ventura County Office of Education provides a broad array of fiscal, training and technology support services to local school districts, helping to maintain and improve lifelong educational opportunities for children, educators and community members. VCOE also operates schools that serve students with severe disabilities and behavioral issues, provides career education courses, and coordinates countywide academic competitions including Mock Trial and the Ventura County Science Fair. Learn more at: www.vcoe.org.