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Taking the Mic Academic decathlon advisor Mr. Mitchell speaks to student body before pep rally
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Breaking Through Academic Decatholon runs through their banner before their first competition of the year
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Don’t Look Back The team walks off after their successful pep rally
On Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2026, students gathered at the victory stand to celebrate and wish good luck to our Van Nuys High School Academic Decathlon (AcaDec) team.
Academic Decathlon is a competition team that studies seven packets of subjects that hold content according to the theme of the year, 25’ to 26’ being the 1920s.
These packets include subjects such as math, science, music, literature, social science, art and economics.
Studying for AcaDec starts in the summer, and lasts all year long. They meet after school every few days to study these packets in preparation for competitions.
The team competes in an essay competition, an interview and finally, a speech and impromptu. Students collect points in these 10 areas to out-compete surrounding schools.
This was the first pep rally held for the Academic Decathlon team, preparing for the regional competition this Saturday, Jan. 24.
As of now, the team has been nine time state qualifiers, aiming towards their tenth as they prepare to compete this weekend.
The AcaDec team is currently placed 4th in LAUSD behind Verdugo Hills High School, getting them one step closer to reaching state.
The pep rally, as described by the AcaDec team’s advisor, Mr. Jonathan Mitchell, was a way for the team to have some fun and acknowledge the team, similar to the pep rallies held for Van Nuys’ football team.
Aside from this week’s competition, AcaDec has a speech and Super Quiz competition coming up in two weeks.
If the team performs well on these upcoming competitions, they will then officially make it to state competitions.
